December 7, 2014
Jacksonville, Florida

The call from the Coast Guard came in mid morning.  He told me the EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Beacon) on Gypsy Palace had alerted them that she was sinking and proceeded to ask questions as to how many souls were onboard, emergency equipment available, etc.  My mind fought to straighten out the inconsistencies.  He said that she was positioned near Mayaguana.  Yes, I knew where that was, we had spent the first Christmas of our sabbatical there snuggly anchored behind a reef.  We’d also spent a couple of weeks behind the same reef waiting for a weather window on our return home but the last time I was on board the Palace, she was in 6’ of water at NAS Jax, what had happened?  I had just renewed our EPIRB registration and wondered if someone had taken it from its cradle.  Then I remembered that in doing so, I learned that the previous owner had never registered it.  So, I started asking questions, what boat are you talking about?  A 2000 Hunter 45 or a 2006 Manta 42 catamaran?  He was looking for a Hunter.  To be brief I told him we had sold our Hunter 2 years prior and that it would take a few minutes to locate the paperwork to ascertain the name of the new owner and asked him to leave me his number so I could call him back. 

 Tears filled my eyes as I tried to wrap my head around the idea that our beloved Hunter was sinking.  We had made so many memories aboard her.  We had so many safety devices on board her.  Dale had dubbed me the safety officer and the locals on the dock had taken to teasing me about how much money and concern I was willing to spend on the bottom of our boat.  Dale had actually installed an emergency bilge pump that many thought would have kept the Titantic from sinking.  What possibly could have happened?

I located the file I had and returned the call.  I answered as many questions as I could and gave him the name of the broker who had handled the transaction thinking that he might have more information available.  I relayed the information regarding all the safety equipment we had sold with the boat which included a life raft and the emergency pump and a manual Dale had created depicting all of the various systems and how to use them. 

When I couldn’t stand not knowing any longer, I called the Coast Guard back and asked what had happened.  What we know is that a Coast Guard helicopter was dispatched to pick up 3 souls from a badly listing Hunter; she is presumed to have sunk somewhere near Mayaguana.  She had been sold a second time 2 months prior and neither the persons we sold it to, nor the ones that they sold it to, had updated the EPIRB emergency information.  It is unknown as to how much of the emergency equipment we left onboard was transferred in the second transaction.  It is unknown as to how the accident occurred.  What is understood is that once the batteries are underwater, all power is lost.  What is known, is that a beautiful, sea worthy boat, we still considered a part of our family, is at the bottom of the ocean.  From the first time her bottom splashed water she took us back and forth to the Bahamas each year and throughout the Caribbean for 18 months safely and securely and if it hadn’t been for the fact that we couldn’t accommodate our expanding family for visits, we still would have been sailing on her. 

Rest in peace, our big, beautiful girl. 

 

July 1, 2007
Jacksonville, FL

“Drink it up, this one’s for you,

it’s been a lovely cruise.” 

Being Dale’s favorite artist, it’s not unusual for me to wake to Jimmy Buffet’s crooning but this time it was unusually poignant.

We’d left Sale Cay in the Abacos, in the wee hours of the morning thoroughly expecting the nasty weather we encountered.  The first couple of hours weren’t anything we hadn’t experienced before.  Wind, rain, lightening in the distance, but we were actually running with the wind and it was pushing us along quite nicely.  As the wind increased, we shortened sail but kept running.  I Dream of Jeannie was right there with us and periodically would radio to make sure all was right with the world.  As the rain increased, they radioed that they were going inside and wouldn’t be able to hear the radio. Dale and I looked at each other, not something we would do but then we’re chickens and want to be the first to know when the sky is falling. 

Then the sky fell.  Everything was going along beautifully, when a gust of wind came up, we listed severely and suddenly were going in the opposite direction.  The Palace had a nasty habit of heading up in the wind but it had saved our bacon in a few instances and this was no different.  As if she were telling us “it’s time to slow down and reassess guys” she turned 180* and pointed into the wind.  OK, time to bring in the sails and turn on the engine.  Right about then I Dream of Jeannie radioed back that they’d had enough (we were too busy dealing with our boat to see what had happened to them) and as soon as we made our waypoint at the Bahama Bank, they were making a left hand turn and heading in to Ft. Pierce instead of continuing on to Jacksonville.  We said our ados and wished them well.  The storm eventually passed, the skies cleared and we continued on without further drama; except for the occasional engine sputter that came from bouncing in the storm waves-which was to be expected. 

“I'm sorry it's ended
It's sad but it's true
Honey it's been a lovely cruise”

We entered the Mayport jetty as dark clouds gathered on the horizon and the occasional lightening could be seen.  We followed the old familiar path along the St. Johns River that serpentines just south of the North Florida-Georgia state line.  Shortly after passing Dames Point Bridge and just before the sharp turn toward Jacksonville, our engine sputtered and died.  Dale has become an expert at changing fuel filters during the last 18 months and before we had come to a complete stop, had the filter changed and the engine fired up again.  

We continued along the River toward Jacksonville.  As we approached the big red Mathews Bridge, it really hit home - our Sabbatical was over.  We are back home and soon will be back to our normal lives as if we were just returning from a summer holiday.  We passed under the hart Bridge and soon after requested an opening from the Main Street Bridge.  We motored through Jacksonville under the Acosta Bridge, past the railroad bridge and curved under the Fuller Warren Bridge.  The weather was closing in on us, so we decided to pull "off the road" into Plummers Cover, a little area across from NAS Jax.  Although Bob and Karen from Annabelle II were excited to have us back at our former marina, we were exhausted and radioed ahead to let them know we were stopping for sleep. 

"These moments we’re left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
There's wind in our hair
And there's water in our shoes
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise”

I could smell Dale’s coffee brewing and knew that soon he’d rouse me from my pillow but what I didn’t expect was when he did, he asked me to come dance with him.

"These moments we're left with
May you always remember
These moments are shared by few
And those harbor lights
Aw they're coming into view
We bid our farewell much too soon
So drink it up
This one's for you
Honey, it's been a lovely cruise”
Yea, I know, what a guy!  Just don’t ever tell him I said so. 

 June 28, 2007

Great Sale Cay
Bahamas
26.59.127N
78.12.914W

Another rainy day but today we set about securing the Palace for the transit across the Gulf Stream. We tucked things away that might shift and Dale laid out our jacklines, harnesses, lifejackets and tethers. The dink was snugged up and the navigational lights were checked and rechecked.

Another boat in the anchorage by the name of “I Dream of Jeannie” hailed us on the radio and asked about the weather report for the next coming days. Dale filled them in and it looks like they will be making the transit with us. It appears that if we want to make the crossing anytime soon, we have to travel in nasty weather either on the first day or the last. We’ve decided that it would be better to do that on the first day than later when we’re tired.

We measured and interpolated the speeds we think we’ll be traveling and have concluded that we should leave at 2am so that we can make the Mayport jetty on an incoming tide in the afternoon. Now all we have to do is get a decent amount of sleep before we take off. Always easier said than done.

Great Sale Cay
Bahamas
26.59.127N
78.12.914W

Although today looked totally miserable, it really wasn’t too bad. However, no matter how much I suggested that we make the return trip to Carter Cays so that Dale could explore the abandoned tracking station, he refused, so we stayed aboard, reading, watching DVD’s, doing cross-word puzzles and every other rainy day activity we could come up with.
I wish I could write more but it was just one of those days.

Great Sale Cay
Bahamas
26.59.127N
78.12.914W

35.4 NM
6.5 Kt Avg.
7.9 Kt. Max
5.27 Hrs.

Current Odom: 8012.5 NM

What’s the saying? “The best laid plans of mice and men . . . ”

As is our custom, we listened to the weather report first thing this morning. Squalls would be coming in during the night and most of tomorrow. Toucan Dream hailed us on the radio and then came over to say goodbye with promises on both sides to get together in Florida. We had a wonderful time with them and look forward to seeing them again soon. Dale saw Aye Doc on the horizon and hailed them to check on Stacy’s hand and to say our good byes to them as well. They’re from Georgia, so perhaps we can get together with them in the future too.

We hoisted our anchor and headed out of the anchorage. Tina, a British flagged sailboat, was right behind us. We waved to them and yelled across as we passed by; they were heading west, we were heading northwest. We added in a few more way points into the chart plotter to take us along a northern route to Carter Cay where we wanted to explore an abandoned tracking station and then dinghy over to Yankee Cay to rummage through the conch shells the fishermen leave behind.

The better part of the morning was a great motor sail. However, as usual, Mother Nature had other ideas and decided to add thunder, lightening and buckets of rain into the mix. We slowed our pace when the visibility decreased and dodged a few boats heading in our direction on the same “road”. We turned on the radar and were happy to see that we would be able to skirt most of the squall. In fact, by the time we reached our waypoint to turn off “the road” to Carter Cay, it appeared that the squall was breaking up. We hadn’t gone more than a mile toward Carter Cay, when it started raining again. So we consulted the radar again and saw that the storm was developing more behind us and heading our way.

Since we have never been to Carter Cay and according to the map the anchorage was clearly exposed, once again, we changed our direction and headed toward Great Sale Cay. At least here, there is protection offered in the form of a horseshoe shaped harbor. A couple of looks over the shoulder at first showed that Carter Cay was under a black cloud. A little later on it appeared to have clear skies. At this point though, Dale wasn’t inclined to turn around and go back. I think if tomorrow morning the skies are clear (in case the forecast is wrong), I’ll suggest a day trip there and back.

We’ve been very fortunate as far as mechanical difficulties are concerned, so you can imagine our surprise when the engine started to falter coming into Great Sale to anchor. Of course, another squall was bearing down on us at the time but we managed to get in and anchored without mishap. Although the fuel filter didn’t appear to be clogged or water logged, Dale went ahead and changed it and cleaned all of the water strainers again, just in case. We won’t actually know if this has done the trick until we run the engine again. Right now, in the anchorage, it’s doing great.

Great Sale is our jumping off point for heading home and now that we are here, it’s hard to believe that our Sabbatical is almost over. We still have another long transit ahead of us but due to the engine sputtering, Dale has already completed several of his pre-transit checks so securing the Palace for the crossing should be rather simple.

Allens-Pensacola Cay

Abacos, Bahamas
26.59.333N
77.41.225W

Another great day of fun and fishing. Bob hailed us on the radio this morning to see if we would be interested in going on a “weenie dive.” What he told me this meant was a dive which would be less likely of running into “the men in grey suits”; I guess he heard that I don’t play well with sharks. Well of course we’d be interested! Jim & Betsy on Two By Sea had left last evening for Treasure Cay to pick up their daughter and granddaughter for a visit. Aye Doc with Stacy & Nancy left for the Carter Cays early this morning. That left just the four of us to take on the sea.

Bob & Caron picked us up about an hour later and we headed to the ocean side of Umbrella Cay to the north of where we are anchored. We went about a mile offshore and found some shallow reefs to dive. The four of us jumped in and Dale and I swam around one patch reef but then cut across when the water started getting really murky. We saw a ray, lots of reef fish, and some Flamingo Tongues (a class of gastropods - according to my book) which are really pretty snails.

We all climbed back into Bobcat, their dink, and headed off shore another mile for some wreck diving. What a hoot. The debris field for this particular wreck was huge. Caron decided to hang back but I grabbed my camera, jumped in and snapped away. We got the coordinates for the site from Bob and will definitely have to come back another time. Its one of those wreck dives you could poke around on all day.

Bob took the long way home trolling for grouper and hogfish or mutton snapper but all we caught was yellow tail snapper. They were pretty small so they were released back in for another day of fishing.

We made it back to the boat at 3pm. Hard to believe we spent the entire day mostly in the water but it was a blast. I took 70 pictures of which 10 were immediately deleted. I’m going to have a hard time when we get back home figuring out which pictures are worth printing from our trip. It’ll take a month just to print out the ones I do select.

Tomorrow we’ll hoist our anchor and start heading west toward the Carter Cays. By this time next week, we’ll be home.

Allens-Pensacola Cay

Abacos, Bahamas
26.59.333N
77.41.225W

Today was the big day. The guys had made plans to go spear fishing at 9am this morning. However, Mother Nature had other ideas. Rumblings off to the West could be heard; thunderboomers were definitely building. Bob on Toucan Dream called everyone to ask whether there was still a fishing expedition happening. He had consulted the radar and we had several storm cells heading in our direction. It was agreed among the gentlemen that they would wait for awhile to see how things developed.

While they were waiting, Stacy from Aye Doc called Dale to ask his opinion about a puncture wound in his hand that he thought was getting infected. They discussed the various how, what and when, then Dale told him that he would come over to look at it.

Bob on Toucan Dream dropped by as Dale was digging through his medical kit. He thought it would be great fun to pull a practical joke on Stacy and wanted Dale to tell him that he couldn’t go in salt water until it had healed. Stacy lives to swim, snorkel, dive and fish; this would not go down well in his book. Stacy also saw through the ruse before Dale had barely gotten the more likely ‘need to stay out of the sun’ associated with medication out of his mouth. So the practical joke never got off the ground.

About an hour after their scheduled departure time, Lady Luck smiled in their direction, most likely hearing the disappointment in Stacey’s voice when everyone agreed to wait for a bit, before they (Dale, Bob, Stacy and Jim from Two By Sea) were on their way for a boys day of fishing. They figured that an hour of fishing was better than nothing and that the spouses of the great hunter/gatherers would stay with the boats in case the wind and rain picked up.

The ladies on the other hand had made plans to go beachcombing for sea glass, sea shells, sponges and driftwood. We too watched the radar and when the closest cell disintegrated before making it to our anchorage and the cell behind it was clearly moving south of us, we came to the same conclusion. An hour of beachcombing was better than none. So, I joined Caron, Nancy and Betsy for what I thought was going to be the remainder of the morning. Little did I know that these ladies were serious beachcombers. I had a great time chit chatting and searching for treasure on the beach but I was shocked when we finally made it back to our respective boats and learned that it was 4pm already. No wonder they had commented about me burning in the sun. I really don’t go out in it directly for very long and it shows regardless of how tan I may appear.

Another surprise waiting for us when we got back was that the guys had beat us back by about 15 minutes. Dale had already cleaned one of the 3 fish he caught and was preparing to tackle the huge grouper that he had speared. He was truly excited that he had landed the “biggest fish” for the day. He told me how they had taken turns 2 by 2 swimming around patch reefs looking for their prey and how they would flush them out, then swim around and spear them with their Hawaii slings. He told how he and Bob had spied a 50 pounder and that Bob had cautioned him that the really big ones catch you instead of the other way around by dragging you with them once they’ve been speared. Dale said that the one that he did catch, dang near dragged him back to its hole, so now he knows where his limit is. He also told me that they kept moving to stay ahead of the sharks. I could have gone all day without that tidbit of information.

Needless to say we’re both exhausted but we did have a great grilled grouper dinner to end the day.

Allens-Pensacola Cay

Abacos, Bahamas
26.59.333N
77.41.225W

13.8 NM
5.4 Kt Avg.
6.1 Kt Max
2.33 Hrs.

Current Odom: 7977.0 NM

Today looked to be a beautiful day, so as other boats came into the anchorage to seek refuge from the wind, we hoisted anchor and headed further north to Allens-Pensacola.

We arrived about noon and eased into the shallow anchorage with Toucan Dream, Aye Doc, Two By Sea as well as several other boats and found a spont in 8’ of water. We dropped the hook and made sure it set securely. Then we let out plenty of chain in case the weather turned foul again.

We lowered the dink and made our way to the eastern side of Allens, to see if the swing we had hung from the trees 3 years ago was still there. Surprisingly, it was having managed to survive 2 hurricanes and a couple more tropical storms. Even our sign and Fandango’s (Fred & Geri) float were still attached to the trees that are commonly referred to as the “yacht club.” We snapped a couple of pictures, beach combed for sea glass and then headed back to the Palace.

Two By Sea invited those of us who had been in Georgetown together over for social hour. Jim & Betsy own a 65’ Cape Horn trawler. Talk about a home on the water; Two By Sea is a gorgeous boat. Stacy & Nancy from Aye Doc and Bob & Caron from Toucan Dream were also there. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and made arrangements to meet again tomorrow. The guys are going spear fishing and the ladies are going beach combing.

Cooper Town

Great Abaco, Bahamas
26.52.442N
77.30.554W

Today was a nice day but still a little windy for anchoring in any other harbor. In fact, Toucan Dream hailed us on the radio and said that they would be coming for a visit later in the morning. Just before noon, they dropped by in Bobcat, their very nice and very large tender that they fish from. They were headed into town to the grocery store and dropped by to say hi. They relayed that Angelfish Point was getting choppy but they thought they’d ride it out.

We joined them in town later for lunch and while Bob, Caron and Dale enjoyed fried conch, I had baked chicken. It was a pretty good meal and we enjoyed their company.

After lunch, they headed back to Toucan Dream, Dale went down for a nap and I picked up another book. Pretty soon, Pixy Dust and Naked Lady came into the anchorage. We’d last seen them in Marsh Harbor. Not too long after that, Sand Dollar, who shared the anchorage with us in Manjack came in from Angelfish Point. Earl said that when his wife gave him that look, he knew that it was time to leave. So Angelfish and some of the other anchorages open to the west wind must be getting pretty uncomfortable. We thoroughly figured that Toucan Dream wouldn’t be far behind them but it looks like they gutted it out.

Things seemed to be calming down by the end of the day but we’ll give Toucan Dream a call before hoisting our anchor and heading north to more exposed anchorages tomorrow. In the meantime, we’re sung as a bug in a rug in Cooper Town. In fact, 5 teenage boys swam out to the boat, touched the bow and swam back, hootin and hollerin the whole way. Probably some dare to see if they would do it. We’re becoming a regular fixture to their water view property.

Great Abaco
Cooper Town
26.52.442N
77.30.554W

We forgot to turn on the trip log.

The first thing Dale said to me this morning (after he said good morning) was: do you think Belezia is getting closer? That’s certainly one way to wake someone up in a hurry. Yep, it was. They were still at a safe distance away but they had halved the distance that had once been between us. Dale hailed them about 8am and the captain said that he was watching the situation.

Now you’re probably wondering how we knew that it was them and not us. Well, it’s hard to drag upwind and since they were upwind of us, that means it was their boat that had changed positions.

Once the clouds that had threatened rain and a possible change of wind had passed, we lowered the dink and took a spin around the island in the opposite direction. We saw a good sized ray in the shallow sand but nothing that looked like a good snorkel. We continued around the island to the ocean side and pulled onto a sandy beach to go beach combing. Surprisingly, we didn’t find very much in the way of sea shells. We did see a dead porcupine fish, a dead sea gull and what appeared to be the nose cone of an airplane but little else of interest. We finished our circumnavigation and returned to the Palace. By this time, Belezia was past us dragging toward the beach.

We had lunch and called Toucan Dream to see how the weather was in Allens-Pensacola; it was looking rather cloudy in their direction. Bob said that there was quite a chop in the anchorage and that they were moving to another anchorage at Angelfish Point.

Well since we’re not going to Allens-Pensacola today, we decided to check out Cooper Town as we’ve never been there before and they were supposed to have two grocery stores. We hoisted anchor a little later and motored across the channel. We found one of the two grocery stores but they were sorely missing most of the fresh vegetables that I was looking for. They were very kind and even called the second grocery store to see if they had any other fresh vegetables. Nope, only frozen. OK, then I’ll just take a head of lettuce and 2 green peppers and call it a salad.

The Palace is the only boat in the anchorage here in Cooper Town and it’s a lot calmer than it was over in Powell Cay. If the wind does pipe up during the night, we’ll be a lot more protected over here. And if we drag, we’ll just drag out onto the bank.

Powell Cay
Abacos, Bahamas

26.54.271N
77.29.084W
10.1 NM
5.9 Kt Avg.
6.8 Kt Max
1.42 Hrs.

Current Odom:
7963.0



After listening to the cruisers net this morning and one last check of the e-mail, we disconnected, hoisted the anchor and moved north to Powell Cay. We tucked as close as we could to shore in the open bay, dropped the hook in an tiny circle of sand and backed down. We noted that Belezia (remember Bakers Bay?) was also in the anchorage.
Dale dove the anchor to make sure that it was indeed set, then returned to lower the dink. We took a quick trip around the bay checking out the various wrecks before heading back to the Palace due to some nasty weather that appeared to be heading toward us.

Luckily it passed us without a single drop so we grabbed our snorkel gear and our paper trash and headed to the opposite side of the island. While I beach combed for sea shells, Dale burned our paper thus cutting our garbage in half. I found a few bits of sponge for Kenny and a few shells here and there. A pair of terns spied me walking and started making quite a fuss. First they peeped and squeaked incredibly, then they acted as if they were injured. Clearly they were trying to create a division to focus my attention toward them, so I looked around to see what they didn’t want me to see. Two tiny little chicks were scurrying through the leaves near the beach, so I must of encroached too close to their nest. Too bad for them I had my camera. A couple of steps toward one of the baby chicks and suddenly the little tyke stopped dead in its tracks and didn’t move in the slightest. I zoomed in on him, got my picture and continued on down the beach. I’m sure, much to the delight of the parents.

Dale and I were heading back to the dink, when we stopped in our tracks looking north. It was absolutely black toward Allens-Pensacola, the cay where we would have been had we stuck to our schedule. We learned later via the radio chatter that the anchorage where Toucan Dream had been (and we would have been) had been hit by a couple of water spouts. A couple of boats were spun around; one lost its bimini as a result but thankfully, no injuries were reported.

We headed back the way we had come and stopped along the beach to follow a couple of trails. One led over the island to the beach on the ocean side and the other led to the cliffs overlooking the anchorage. Both trails were marked with flotsam and jetsam and anything else that people could grab to mark the trail. We never did find the memorial that Bob & Karen had told us about.

On one of the trails, we met a guy who was quite the chatterbox. He told us that he has been living aboard for 30 years. We chatted about the various places that we’ve been and he told us of the changes over the years. He’s very disappointed that there are hardly any nice places left where you can anchor in Florida. I didn’t even want to mention the state of insurance for fear that we’d never get back to the boat. A nice guy but a bit of a displaced hippy sort. He probably saw Dale’s ponytail as symbolic of a lost era. Eventually, we excused ourselves and made our way back to the Palace.

Tomorrow, we think that we’ll try to locate the memorial at the other end of the island before moving north to Allens-Pensacola. We figure that it’s safe now. Surely, it won’t be hit twice in the same week.


Photo 1: Wreck on the beach
Photo 2: Look real close and you'll see the baby bird

Manjack Cay
Bahamas
26.49.202N
77.22.139W

We’ve had some nice weather the last couple of days. I’ve taken to checking my e-mails, swimming a few laps around the boat, then surfing the internet to my heart’s content. Dale has been tasking himself with little odd jobs here and there, swimming around the boat a few times, reading and getting a few more CME classes done.

Today, we gave up waiting and called the insurance companies again. We’ve learned that once again, we’re at their mercy. It’s going to cost us considerably more to stay put in a river 20 miles from the ocean than it has been to travel from island to island throughout the Caribbean. It cost us more to go sailing when we left and now its costing us more to come home again. Go figure!

With our business accomplished, I have no reason to linger longer except that once again, the internet has become my umbilical to the rest of the world. Tomorrow, I’ll check my e-mails, then disconnect until we’re back in Florida. We’ve been told that there are no more connections between here and there.

So . . . We’ll catch up with ya’ll on the other side of the Gulf Stream.

Photo: Curly tailed lizard watching us, watching him.

Manjack Cay
Bahamas
26.49.202N
77.22.139W





Happy Father’s Day to all of you Dads out there! For the first time in days, its actually pretty sunny outside.








We took advantage of the nice weather and went for a hike along the nature trail on Manjack. Although the island has taken a beating during the past couple of hurricanes, the nature trail’s paths have been widened and new palm trees have been planted here and there along the trail. We saw one of the huge land crabs walking through the underbrush along the trail. It’s not something you’d ever want to have an encounter with.





With the nice weather, Toucan Dream moved north to Powell Cay today. Also with the reasonably nice weather forecast for the next couple of days, Annabelle II decided to head home while the seas were down. Business and family matters were starting to encroach upon their vacation time and when their toilet broke, it was the last straw.









We’re sticking around for the internet until I’m positive we’ve got insurance coverage on the Palace taken care of.

Manjack Cay
Bahamas
26.49.202N
77.22.139W


Once again, the radar shows a huge swath of nasty weather heading our way first thing this morning but we’re determined to get a little exploring in before we’re trapped on the boat for another day.

Bob & Karen from Annabelle II and Dale & I dinked around to the ocean side of Manjack and beach combed for sea glass for Karen, sea shells for me, and whatever flotsam and jetsam the guys couldn’t possibly live without.

We saw what looked like a couple of little sharks playing in the shallow waters as we headed back to our dinks and kept our distance from them as we waded out into deeper water. The tide had gone out and once again, we did the African Queen reenactment of walking through the shallows towing the dink by hand.

The rest of the day was spent reading, uploading pictures on the blog from 5/29/2007 forward, playing computer games and watching movies. Since I had a pretty good internet connection at one point, I tried to get some insurance business completed using voice over internet protocol. The long and short of it was: call back on Monday.



Photo 1: Kenny's Tree
Photo 2: X marks the spot

Manjack Cay

I've got a pretty good connection here so I've gone back to 5/29/2007 and added photos to my blog posts. I hope you enjoy them.

Manjack Cay
Bahamas
26.49.202N
77.22.139W

It was terribly overcast this morning and the radar showed some nasty weather heading in our direction but we were determined to do something before being holed up on the boat again. We radioed Annabelle II and asked if they wanted to join us in exploring the mangrove channels. A short time later we were putt putting our way through the shallows among the mangrove trees looking at bonefish, sting rays and lots of little conch and upside down jellyfish.

A couple of hours later, we were rushing back to our respective boats trying to out run the squall bearing down on us.

Back on the Palace we hunkered down and waited for the big blow. We had heard a report of 52 kts in Tahiti Beach. We did get some wind and rain but nothing like those to the south of us.
The Junkanoo Parade that had been rained out last Friday in Marsh Harbor was on schedule again for this today according to our radio. However, once again, Marsh Harbor was getting hit with the full force of the rain storm. I have no idea if the Junkanoo went on as scheduled or not.

Manjack Cay
Bahamas
26.49.202N
77.22.139W

17.2NM
5.5 Kt Avg
6.2 Kt Max
3.07 Hrs.

Current Odom: 7953.0

This morning looked promising for a transit of “the Whale,” so Annabelle II and we lifted our anchors about 7:30am and headed out. It was a quiet trip with only a 1-2’ swell making its way onto the bank. We exited off the bank along Loggerhead Channel north of Great Guana and made our way north for about 15 minutes before turning back onto the bank again south of Noname Cay. Annabelle II took advantage of their shallower draft by taking the short cut across the bank when we got back into the protected waters. We were on an outgoing tide and decided that our extra weight warranted the more cautious deeper route.

Both crews stopped in Green Turtle. Annabelle II went into White Sound for fuel, while we anchored outside of Settlement Harbor to make a quick run in for groceries. Dale was even lucky enough to finally find a small coffee maker that didn’t require a second mortgage on the boat and fits into the space that we had allotted for the old one.

We stopped and knocked on Island Flyer a catamaran that we thought was the boat our friends, John & Cherry had e-mailed us about. Although it wasn’t the same boat, we had a nice visit with Mike the single handler who was on board.

We had made our way back to the Palace and had secured the dink when Annabelle II hailed us From their trip to Settlement Harbor and asked if we wanted to have lunch in town. Oops, a little miscommunication, so we ended up taking a rain check on the offer.

We hoisted anchors again and made the short hop up to Manjack. We selected a sandy spot near Toucan Dream to drop our hook and Annabelle II found another on the opposite side of the harbor. (Maybe it was something we said. We’re going to have to watch those smart aleck remarks.)

Bob and Caron from Toucan Dream dropped by shortly after we anchored. They told us about the gathering on the beach at sundown to offer a last toast to Marty, a single handler who favored the harbor we were in and who, they learned, had died today, succumbing to lung cancer.

At the appointed hour, crews from several of the boats in the harbor gathered under the little tiki hut in Marty’s memory though nothing was mentioned of his passing. I’m not sure if it was an oversight or if that was the plan from the beginning. In any event, I brought bug spray for the mosquitoes and Karen from Annabelle II brought a Thermacell to repel the little bloodsuckers but in the end, it was the incoming tide forced us all back to our respective boats.

RIP Marty.

Photo: Bob & Karen from Annabelle II in "Tink"

Baker’s Bay
Great Guana Cay
Bahamas
26.41.390N
77.09.611W



What a rude awakening we had this morning. The wind picked up about 5 am this morning and by 5:30, Dale was up collecting our various handheld electronic instruments and laptops to put into the oven with the first clap of thunder. (The thought is that by placing the instruments into the oven, they’ll somehow be protected from being fried should we be hit by lightening. The black cloud was enormous and the boats were swinging through complete 360s by the time the storm passed through.

Our big excitement came when a large steel power yacht guesstimated to be about 85’ long started dragging down on a catamaran about 35’ long. Dale tried hailing them on the VHF on a couple of different channels but with no response. Finally the catamaran owner awoke to the problem and somehow got the attention of the power yacht’s captain. The family of 5 came up and lifted their anchor and moved upwind of Toucan Dream. Bob was delighted that the 3 teenaged daughters in their bikinis were going to be closer but not so thrilled to be downwind of Daddy’s big metal boat with an incredible amount of windage. Luckily no collision ensued. This couldn’t be said of the boats anchored in Marsh Harbor. Via the radio, we heard that several boats had dragged anchor there and that a few had ended up making contact. Toucan Dream Bob likes to call it Smash Harbor.

I sat in the cockpit with Dale through the boat shuffle and listened to the “cruiser’s net” which was comprised of not only the weather but the effort made to reconnect those who had lost items with those who had found items. My favorite was the red SeaRay cockpit cushions found making an escape from Marsh Harbor that had found their way out into the Abaco Sea. Obviously it was going to be a dark and nasty day so I went back to bed.

About noon, Toucan Dream and Aye Doc decided to make the run through “the Whale” while they still could and head to Green Turtle. Dale had just finished reading the weather report we get over the satellite phone when they radioed their plans. The next nasty storm wasn’t supposed to arrive until Sunday, so we figure we have a day or two yet.

Once the storm passed, it was actually a pretty nice day. I spent some time floating around in my inner tube which is securely attached to the Palace with a rope. We watched another large power boat spend a couple of hours detangling their 2 anchors; the captain was not a happy camper. With the 360's we all were doing this morning, their anchors twisted together. We were really surprised when after they had separated the anchors, they turned around and set the two of them again.

We called Bob & Karen on Annabelle II to see if they wanted to learn how to play Mexican Train Dominos. About 5pm we settled into an evening of counting spots. Now we’ll all be ready when we run into Toucan Dream again.

Baker’s Bay
Great Guana Cay
Bahamas
26.41.390N
77.09.611W


Toucan Dream and Aye Doc pulled out first thing this morning to make a run back into Marsh Harbor to see if their mail had finally arrived. Having the anchorage to ourselves, Dale and I dropped the dink and headed back at Spoil Cay, this time we took a couple of coffee cans to put our shells in. We timed it so that we were almost at low tide on a new moon (meaning that the low tide was lower than usual). We were lucky in our scavenger hunt; I found 5 good sized shells and Dale half filled his can with the tiny shells that are prominent on the island. I found 3 conch shells on the beach but since their inhabitants were still alive, I threw them back out into the water as far as I could.

Back at the Palace, a DeFever powerboat group had found our bay and 7 of them had rafted up for party time. A huge steel power boat named Belezia had anchored uncomfortably close to us but then ended up moving further out. We suspect because they had anchored right over the block of concrete we had seen when we were circling around looking for a good place to drop the anchor yesterday.

Dale inflated the clear inner tube we found on our trip south and I floated in it until it felt like the sun was searing my brain. Probably a good indication that it was time to come back in.

About the time that Annabelle II came in to anchor, the DeFever raft up, broke up and powered off toward Marsh Harbor. Toucan Dream & Aye Doc finally made it back in before dark but not before the threatening clouds opened up and started raining.

We finished the day eating the fish that Bob had given to us yesterday and watching one of our DVDs.

Baker’s Bay
Great Guana Cay
Bahamas
26.41.390N
77.09.611W

3.1NM
4.5 Kt Avg.
5.5 Kt Max
.40 Hrs.

Current Odom: 7935.8


While Annabelle II elected to check out Man-o-War Cay, we moved up the island to Baker’s Bay. It wasn’t far enough to even warrant taking down the sun awning. Things have certainly changed since the last time we were here. Back then, this end of the island was an overgrown ruin of a defunct cruise ship destination. Now there is construction (and a nicely groomed beach) the length of the bay. The new owners appear to be making a golf course for their new housing development and digging a marina to pay for it all. Gossip has it that the locals aren’t too keen on the idea of all of that fertilizer running off into their waters.

The crews from Toucan Dream and Aye Doc were already heading out to go fishing, by the time we had finished anchoring. We had come here due in large part to the cruising guides showing a snorkel destination located around one of the small off lying islands. We lowered the dink and headed out in that direction. We circled a couple of the little islands at the end of Great Guana but couldn’t find a reef or anything that looked worth jumping in for. We ended up scooting over to Spoil Cay and wandering the beaches in that head down, stooped over position that denoted serious shelling taking place. We found a few interesting shells but then decided that we needed a bag or something to carry our treasures in before taking on the entire island.

In the afternoon, Bob from Toucan Dream and Stacy from Aye Doc dropped off a couple of snapper fillets from their fishing trip. Bob loves to fish and has offered to take us fishing with him to teach us some of the finer points. He often catches more than he & Caron can eat or freeze, so they give the rest away. I’d call that a win-win situation. He gets to fish and we don’t have to sit in the sun all day.

Fishers Bay,
Great Guana Cay
Bahamas
26.40.182N
77.07.293W


Bob & Karen from Annabelle II showed us a really nice snorkeling spot at the southern end of Great Guana today. It was good to get back into the water after being cooped up on the boat for so long. The visibility was good too. They figure that one of the reasons for it being so nice is because its location half way down a long island. The spot where we cut over to it is too shallow for fishing boats or other types of power boats to get to it. As it was, we had to lift our dinghy engines to transit the area ourselves. We got a couple of good photos of a queen angelfish.

We heard from Gerry & Nicky on Orpailleur today, they’ve made the Galapagos.

I stayed up late this evening to see if I could get a good signal to the internet to upload some posts. Regrettably, it still was not strong enough to upload any photos. At some point, I’d like to go back and add the photos to all of the text.

Fishers Bay,
Great Guana Cay
Bahamas
26.40.182N
77.07.293W

9.1NM
5.6 Avg
6.5 Max
1.37 Hrs.

Current Odom: 7932.7 NM

What is that big star shining so brightly? Could it be the sun? We haven’t seen it in so long, we may be mistaken. Whatever it was, it did stay out the rest of the day.

As you may know, the Bahamas had been our annual vacation spot for several years leading up to our sabbatical. However, as a vacation spot, we had no need to search out the necessities of cruising, ie. Grocery stores, Laundromats, hardware, etc. So Bob & Karen on Annabelle II volunteered to show us around the cruising side of Marsh Harbor.

Dale was in search of a 2 cup coffee pot and I needed to stock up on a few fresh vegetables. We searched the various stores on our way to the supermarket but when we found a coffee pot that might have fit the bill, it cost more than twice the amount we thought it should, so we kept walking. The supermarket we found was well stocked and I was able to find everything I needed and a few things that I didn’t need but got anyway. Bob and I split the fare of a cab to take the bags of groceries back to the dinghy dock while Dale checked out one more store for a coffee pot and Karen went to another grocery store for the few items left on her list. Then it was back to our respective boats to quickly put away the groceries before lifting our anchors and making our way over to Fisher’s Bay on Great Guana Cay.

In years past, we have taken a mooring inside Orchid Bay on Great Guana but this year, we were surprised to see that they have added a new dock where the deeper moorings once sat. This new dock is for the very, very large power boats. Even though we have been relegated to the anchorage to the north of Orchid Bay, Bob assured us that the people-watching is just as amusing at Nippers when you dinghy in. So we made plans to meet at the dock closer to the dinner hour to get good seats for the free entertainment and weren’t disappointed when we climbed the hill to the colorful establishment at the top.

The view overlooking the beach and outlying reef is still just as breathtaking as it ever was and there were a good number of people enjoying the snorkeling and sunbathing that they offered. The two pools were packed with vacationers and the bar stereo was blaring Jimmy Buffet songs for the whole island to hear. We took a table on one of the upper decks with a roof and ordered some conch fingers and French fries to help in moderating the effects of the Nipper Trippers that found their way to our table. One thing about anchoring around the corner from here is that we had to leave before the “party” really took off, so that we could make our way back to our boats with plenty of light. Not a problem really as no one in our group is into the “mosh pit” type of gatherings.

We made our way back to the Palace in time to watch the sunset and Dale blew his conch horn to mark the time. Tomorrow we might actually get to go snorkeling.


Photos: Bob & Karen from Annabelle II
Dale & his conch horn

Marsh Harbor
Great Abaco Island
Bahamas
26.32.859N
77.03.453W

9.4 NM
1.56 Hrs.
4.8 Kt. Avg.
7.0 Kt. Max

Current Odom: 7923.7

Another rainy, gray day dawned but we hoped that since we were waiting for a high tide at 2 pm before leaving, that perhaps it would clear out by the time we had to move. No such luck came our way. We ended up lifting our anchor about 2 hours before high tide so that we would have a rising tide in case things didn’t go as planned. We hoisted our skirts, thought light thoughts and tippy toed through the shallow areas to the “deeper” water leading to Marsh Harbor. We found 10-12’ depths and thought we were in hog heaven and even let out our jib to look a little more sailorly on our transit. Toucan Dream was right behind us as Annabelle II had left a couple of hours before (they have a 5’ draft as opposed to Toucan Dream’s and our 5.5-6’ drafts.)

We were half way there when the skies really opened up and the visibility closed to about a half mile. We furled the jib, slowed our speed and once again hoped that the rain would clear away before we entered the channel. Although the rain did ease, it never let up completely. We rounded the point and followed the commercial channel in until we passed the small islets to the southeast before turning again out of the commercial channel and into the yacht channel leading to the anchorage.

We spotted Annabelle II anchored nearby. Toucan Dream peeled off to anchor in the general vicinity but we continued on until we spied the fuel dock in the mist. We radioed ahead to let them know we were approaching, then made our way in to line up to the dock and finally to secure ourselves to it. We took on 80+ gallons at 3.85/gallon. It’s a good thing our credit card is paid off.

It continued to rain for the rest of the afternoon at varying intensities. Toucan Dream’s mail hadn’t arrived and since Marsh Harbor isn’t one of their favorite spots, they lifted anchor and moved over to Fisher’s Bay. We called Annabelle II over the radio and suggested that we modify our plans of going to the Junkinoo parade. It’s a hike to get to the park where the parade was to be held and neither crews were interested in hiking in the mud and rain. We decided to go to Snappa’s instead, where they advertised free appetizers between 5-7pm.

Snappa’s is another seaside bar & grill overlooking Marsh Harbor. It’s well built and had a nice dinghy dock on the harbor side. The appetizers were plentiful and delicious. Bob & Karen and Dale & I spent the late afternoon enjoying the food, the people watching and the conversation.
The skies finally cleared and although we couldn’t see the space shuttle lift off or soar overhead, we were mesmerized by the resulting brilliant white vapor cloud that hung in the air for hours. The pictures don’t really show the detail of the intricate swirls and drifts that the cloud displayed.

We heard from Gerry & Nicky on Orpailleur today. They say that they are sailing at 7+ knots and should be in the Galapagos on Sunday. Thank heavens things are going well for them.

Tahiti Beach
Elbow Cay
Bahamas
26.30.420N
76.59.036W

Another gray day but at least the rain was limited to the occasional sprinkle. We tidied up the Palace a bit as we were hosting the evening social hour before making our way across the channel to an island called Lubbers Quarters and Cracker P’s for lunch. Cracker P’s is another in a long line of great little seaside bar and grills but the history behind the name is rather colorful.

Apparently the proprietors of Cracker P’s were looking for a name for their establishment when they came across the story of a old man who used to live on the island but originally hailed from Georgia. Back home in Georgia, he had a duck that terrorized the neighbors. Apparently, the local sheriff confronted the man about the terrorist duck; a disagreement ensued and the man shot and killed the sheriff. On the lam, he made his way to the Abacos where he quietly lived the remainder of his life hiding out and growing vegetables and sapodilla trees. As the man was of limited means, the islanders were introduced to their first nudist in the islands. However once they got used to the guy, they often traded meat and fish (and I’m sure the occasional pair of trousers) for his fresh vegetables. There was no mention of what became of the duck.

On the way back to the Palace, we dropped by Annabelle II and gobbled up the fresh crumb cake that Karen had baked then surveyed the improvements that they added to their Hunter. I liked a couple of their ideas in the galley and added them to my list of “Nice Things to Have” on the Palace when we get back home (thanks Karen!). We reciprocated the ‘show and tell’ later in the day when they came over for sundowners. Bob & Caron from Toucan Dream were also invited for the social hour and the guys, all of them handy with hammer and saw, compared ideas of problems they had encountered and what they had done with regard to improvements on our respective boats. We figure that by the time we’re all ready to give up sailing, we’ll have the perfect cruising boats.

Tomorrow we’ll make our way to Marsh Harbor but this time, we’ll wait for high tide before we leave.

Tahiti Beach
Elbow Cay
Bahamas
26.30.420N
76.59.036W

18.9 NM
3.28 Hrs.
5.4 Kt Avg.
6.6 Kt Max

Current Odom: 7914.1


When the tide changed direction, our anchor spot proved to be a bit more rolly than we first thought but we stuck it out and managed to sleep through the majority of the slaps and motion.

Once again, the day dawned gray and overcast but we were on a mission to visit Pete’s Pub and Art Gallery when it opened, so that we could still catch the high tide for our transit north to Tahiti Beach. We lowered the dink and worked our way into the horseshoe shaped harbor tucked behind patch reefs. When we rounded the entrance, we were surprised to find some good sized boats in the little marina. Obviously, they must have used a high tide to transit across the shallow areas we observed coming in.

There were two high docks that extended out into the harbor. One had a sign indicating Pete’s Pub and Art Gallery, so we tied the dink up to that one. Climbed the ladder and started down the dock. At the end, we found several life sized bronze statues of dolphins, turtles, sting rays and figurines. We followed the dirt road a bit to the gallery but found that it was still closed. Pete’s Pub was actually next door to this and it too wasn’t quite open.

Dale and I walked the boardwalk past huge bronze turtles & rays placed like garden art in the seaside vegetation on our way to the beach that faced the Northeast Providence Channel. I snapped a couple of photos and then caught up to Dale on his way back to the Pub.

Dale had spied a line of Adirondack chairs placed between the bar and several picnic tables scattered in ever expanding locations. They were along one side of the bar under the thatched roof covering the open establishment. Several other couples were making their way in and waiting patiently for the waitress to start taking orders. One couple told us that they had been here yesterday and watched as the lone waitress served 122 lunches.

The food was good (Dale had grouper; I had a blue cheese burger) but we were actually here to see the gallery. The bar was filling up quickly, so as soon as I was done, I left Dale to pay the bill to get a head start at the gallery and walk around a bit more leisurely. Dale soon joined me and we methodically circled the gallery to view everything on display. We really like the bronze statutes. Dale like the rays, I liked the turtles.

We headed back to the Palace and lifted our anchor to make our way to Tahati Beach on the south end of Elbow Cay. Dale suggested taking the longer, deeper route to make sure I didn’t have a nervous conniption on the way there. I have to admit, most of the trip north, I stayed in my seat, hopping up only when the depth sounder indicated 7’ of water (we draw 5.5’). But on the very last leg, Dale ended up hand steering very slowly; the theory being that if we touch earth going slow enough, we can back out without any damage being done. The depth sounder indicated 6’ and slightly less for an extended amount of time. I can’t remember ever being so happy to see a 7’ depth before. I’m obviously going to have to get used to being in the Bahamas again.

We made our approach to the Tahiti Beach anchorage and spotted Toucan Dream and Annabelle II right away. We selected a spot right between the two to anchor. We waved Bob & Karen on Annabelle II over as soon as we were anchored. They had been watching us through binoculars and were wondering whether we would make it or not. We spent the rest of the evening catching up and speculating about whether or not we’ll be able to buy a home in Florida at this time. Apparently the availability of (or rather the lack of) insurance is a determining factor these days. Bob & Caron dropped by as they returned to Toucan Dream from a day out fishing. They had caught 3 tuna and were handing out portions of it to those they knew. They gave us a couple fillets and Bob & Karen a couple.

Before heading below for the evening, we dropped the screens and buttoned up the Palace against invading mosquitoes. With all of this rain and humidity, the little blood suckers are thriving.

Little Harbor,
Great Abaco,
Bahamas
26.20.292N
77.00215W

55.6 NM
9.57 Hrs. Min.
5.6 Kt Avg.
7.3 Kt Max

Curent Odometer: 7895.4 NM


It was a blissfully quiet night during which we got some restful sleep. We got up about 5:45am, unfurled our mainsail and lifted our anchor at 6:15am. We were somewhat surprised to see that the little sailboat that had been inside of us was also a Hunter and left just ahead of us.

We exited the Royal Island harbor and rounded to the west before turning north and finally northeast toward the Abacos. It looked to be a fine day dawning. About this time, Escape with Tom & Babette (originally from Vermont) hailed us on the VHF to introduce themselves since we were clearly taking the same path. By this time, we had determined that our wind indicator had indeed quit working and since we were traveling in the same direction, we asked them to let us know when the wind picked up to over 15 kts as we were preparing to fly our spinnaker. Babette teased that she knew that at some point we would blow past them but with the spinnaker, it would be sooner rather than later. However, as in the past, Mother Nature had other ideas.

We were pleased that we were able to sail as long as we did but Escape was motor sailing and pulled far enough in front of us that we could no longer see them in the haze. Eventually the wind died to the point where we were having problems keeping the giant, however lightweight, chute open. Clouds were getting thicker to the west and when the first raindrops found their way to our position, we decided to bring it down and put it away for another day.

Each time we fly the spinnaker, we learn something new and its been getting easier and easier to bring out the monstrosity and put it away. This time, for some reason, we must have forgotten a step. We had already doused the chute into its sock and I had loosened the spinnaker halyard leaving several wraps on the winch before running down below to hold the big bag that it is stored in. Dale pulled the spinnaker down a little at a time and we were in the process of stuffing it into the bag when it suddenly collapsed half on the deck, half off and in the water. Dale was able to quickly pull it back on board but now we needed to dry the part that had fallen overboard. About this time, Escape radioed back that it was starting to rain where they were.

We decided the best place to dry the chute in the rain was snaked through the interior of the boat. You can’t truly appreciate how big this sail is, even in its sock, until you stretch it out. Thank goodness, the rain let up and we were able to hoist the wet half out of the forward hatch and up high enough to allow it to dry in the wind. We certainly didn’t look very Bristol but it was effective. We had just stuffed it back into its bag when the next rain shower came through. So much for the anticipated good weather.

With the engine in gear, we soon pulled close enough to see Escape on the horizon, caught up to them and eventually passed them before sighting land. A few more showers passed by but no nasty winds were associated with them. You really don’t need wind instruments but it makes it a lot easier to see a change in pattern. I put a couple of lengths of Christmas ribbon on the standing rigging to show direction and we have a mop standing next to the arch that starts blowing in about 20kts so we have secondary instruments until the other one can be repaired.

We arrived at the entrance of Little Harbor on Great Abaco at 3:00pm and were anchored by 3:30pm without any drama entering onto the bank. There is a little roll to the boat where we’re anchored but Dale wants to go to Pete’s Pub tomorrow and this is the closest anchorage to the famous watering hole. I’ll take pictures to prove he’s been there in case anyone has any doubt.

Royal Island
Bahamas
25.30.894N
76.50.768W

44.2 NM
5.6 Kt Avg.
7.6 Avg.
7.50 Hrs.

Current Odometer:
7840.5

What can I say. Last night was miserable. We did have a steady wind all night long as we had hoped for which definitely kept us into the waves but the seas never moderated to a reasonable level. Sleep was elusive to say the least.

We were both up early and actually had to wait for the 6:30am weather report. The forecast was for occasional showers in the Central Bahamas and since we were in the northern end of the Central Bahamas, we figured that we would have less than that. Once again, Mother Nature had other ideas and we played dodge and weave with the clouds dropping rain the entire day. However, the seas did eventually moderate and by noon, the winds died as well and we had to turn on the engine for the remainder of our trip.

At one point our wind indicator went from a couple of knots to 36; we both saw it but there was no accompanying dramatic list of the boat. Thinking that the next cloud might hold some unpredictable weather we quickly furled our sails and continued on expecting the worst. However, nothing materialized. We’re wondering now if there might be something wrong with our wind instrument.

We passed by several islands that we’ve never visited before but with the rain and haziness, we really couldn’t see very much. About 3pm, we approached Royal Island and entered into a well protected harbor. There was only one other boat when we arrived but by nightfall there were 4. There appears to be the ruins of at least two structures on the hillside overlooking the harbor and perhaps what may have been terraced gardens leading down to the water. I would have liked to have explored the area a little but didn’t want Dale to have to unsecure the dinghy for a little joyride. What I was surprised to see was a ferry running to the little harbor. We obviously picked the wrong place to anchor but will be gone before the sun comes up tomorrow and the ferry starts its daily runs.

The skies cleared just as the sun went down and Dale says there are loads of stars to be seen tonight. We’re hoping that this is the signal for the great weather the Bahamas is noted for has finally arrived. In any event, the seas are down and we’ll make a quick trip to the Abacos tomorrow while we can.

Ship Channel Cay
Bahamas
24.48.795N
76.49.749W

36.6 NM
5.4 Kt. Avg
7.6 Kt. Max

Current Odom:
7796.5NM

There’s no weather broadcast on Sunday, so we got up and looked out the hatches to calculate a go/no go decision. Factored into the equation was the abundance sunshine (something we haven’t seen in a while) and the fact that the wind wasn’t screaming. We also figured that since we’re hairy chested, salt encrusted sailors, we could handle whatever was beyond the protection of the mooring field.

By 9:30am we had secured the Palace well enough to release our mooring ball which was, in and of itself, a feat to behold as the current was going out (turning us opposite the way we needed to exit) and we had a cross wind through the harbor (any wind in tight quarters is always fun). Dale let loose one of our lines and held the second until the wind brought us around to the point that we were cross ways to the path that would lead us out. Once in that position, I had to first reverse the engine to start the remainder of our turn, then once the turn was begun, quickly put it in forward with opposite helm to complete the turn without running into anyone else moored nearby. We managed to look like we knew what we were doing and exited rather smartly. We pondered how our singled handed neighbor would do the same considering her less than tactful approach with the volunteers at the Park.

Our exit, of course, was right into the teeth of an outgoing tide from the bank to the Sound and the 3-5’ waves left over from the past few days slowed our progress even more to about 3 kts. Eventually, we made it to our waypoint, turned northwest to a reach (perpendicular to the wind) and sped away doing over 7 kts. Life is good. The remainder of the day was sailed further and further downwind as each successive waypoint turned us more north and east.

The wind and waves never did subside throughout the day as we had hoped they might but we did have a lively romp to our current stop at Ship Channel Cay and enjoyed our day on the water. We dropped the hook in sand in 12’ of water to the side of what appears to be the decaying hulk of a old stone house. We aren’t as protected as would normally be the case in easterly winds but with wind out of the south, the motion is a pitch to and fro instead of a roll side to side which is always the preferred motion if there has to be one.

Dale and I are hoping that the winds will stay steady for the long journey tomorrow so that we can sail the whole way. The price of fuel around here is enough to take your breath away.

Warderick Wells Cay
Bahamas
24.23.820N
76.37.958


Well, as luck would have it, TS Barry and his associated squalls moved in quicker than we first thought. We had one good day to travel but needed two to transit to another secure anchorage, so we ended up staying on our mooring ball this entire time.

I wish that I could say that we explored, swam, and thoroughly enjoyed our visit here but considering that the wind was howling and it rained the entire time, we did absolutely nothing except our normal, rainy weather routine: watched movies, read books and played on the computer. It was a good thing that when we checked in, we noticed a book swap in the corner and exchanged a bag of paperbacks for a handful of a few more.

Dale did take a walk over to Boo Hill on Thursday but then ended up getting caught in a little shower on his way back. Throughout the day, boats continued to come in. Our neighbor on mooring ball #9 was a female single handler; the first that we’ve seen. I wish that I could say that she did her gender proud but she dang near ran Dale over when he dinghied out to hand a line up to a Park guide who had gone out to give her assistance with coming into the tricky mooring field. She ended up making 3 passes at the ball and screaming at the Park guide before Dale threaded her line through the eye on the mooring ball and then made a hasty retreat back to the Palace. I noticed that as soon as the line was secure, the Park guide made as quick a retreat back to the station. By evening, most of the mooring balls in the north field were occupied and approaching boats were being directed to the southern field.

In any event, except for the trailing “comma” of storms associated with one of the outside rain bands from Barry, we anticipate being able to get underway to the north tomorrow. Once again we’ll try to make Ship Channel Cay on the first day and Spanish Wells on the second. Wish us luck.

Exuma Land & Sea Park
Warderick Wells Cay
Bahamas
24.23.820N
76.37.958W

41.3 NM
6.4 Avg. Kts
8.1 Max Kts.
5.54 Hrs.

Current Odometer:
7760.0


Another beautiful day of sailing! We listened (as usual) to the weather at 6:30 am and learned that there may be a low forming in the Caribbean that might cause some nasty weather in this area by the weekend. So instead of stopping and checking out the sights, we’ll be making our way to another secure anchorage as far north as we can get prior to Friday night. As you’re well aware, we can get stuck sometimes for weeks at a time waiting for weather, so we might as well make it interesting.

We hoisted anchor at 8 am and made our way further onto the bank to the deep (as in over 7’) water. Once there, we turned and unfurled both sails completely. Most of our transit was in depths of 10-20’ but the occasional 6-8’ would get us to jump up and confirm that we were still on course and not running into anything solid.

We flew. Most of the time we were sailing at 6-7 kts. Our original destination was Staniel Cay but since we made that by 11:00, we continued on to Warderick Wells Cay and took a mooring inside the Exuma Land and Sea Park. Good thing too. When we reached the waypoint to turn toward the mooring field by 1:20, I wanted to continue on to put some more mileage beneath our keel but Dale said it would take another hour to get into the anchorage and it was time to rest.

We came in on a rising tide so catching the mooring was a little tricky in the narrow area that has deep enough water for us. Picture a circular basin with an island surrounding about a 1/3 of the circle, and 2 more on the far sides of the circle The basin is shallow enough to dry at low tide in the middle and the outside edges of the circle. Only a ring about a 1/3 of the way into the circle is navigable. The mooring balls are centered along the ring so that the boats can swing regardless of wind direction. No normal mooring technique can be used here. We ended up letting the current carry us up to the mooring ball, then put the engine in reverse to slow us down and keep us in place long enough for Dale to grab the mooring line and secure our bridle to it. After that we let the current and wind position us.

The wind is blowing over 20 kts at the moment, so I’m glad we’re partially surrounded by islands. Tomorrow we’ll make our way to Ship Channel Cay where we hope to anchor in some deep sand. Friday we anticipate taking a mooring in Spanish Wells on the Island of Eleuthera. If a storm is coming, we’ll ride it out there.

We’re not sure if it been the constant progression of weather or what but ever since we left the Turks & Caicos Islands, we’ve noticed that its been getting progressively chillier. We’ve actually had to close hatches and pull up covers during the night. I keep reminding Dale that when we took our vacations to the Abacos in May, there were times when it was too chilly to snorkel without a wetsuit. It’s too late now but I think we’re too far north!

We’ll leave bright and early again tomorrow.