Crossing to Bahamas - Day Three

We had one more day of travel to get to the outer islands of the Abacos, our destination. A check of the weather forecast wasn't great, but ok.  The winds were going to pick up later in the day.  It wouldn't be as bumpy as our crossing, for sure, but with our buddy boat we decided that the best plan of attack would be an early morning start to try and beat the wind.  So in the moonlight, with a slight glow in the eastern sky, we weighed anchor and putted out of our anchorage under a full moon.





As forecasted, the morning was calm and the afternoon a little lumpy, but not bad at all.  We were taking the waves on the bow, which our boat loves, and while the wind was building the ride was quite tolerable.  If anything, a little boring.


Our early start made for a long day of travel nonetheless.  The last of three long days of travel.  We arrived at Green Turtle Cay late in the afternoon, tied up, and headed to the bar for a happy hour celebratory beer and a bite to eat.

Two salty dogs

We'll spend the next week or so here, visiting our favourite watering holes, beach combing and resting.  Next, we'll "cross the whale" (more on that later) and head to all the cays South of us.  We haven't traveled down there much so it will be new ground to explore.

Crossing to Bahamas - Day Two

Day two of our journey was an easy leg:  West End to Great Sale Cay, an uninhabited island conveniently located at about the half way mark between where we were and where we were going.  It is a well used overnight anchorage.

We slept in a bit and left West End around 8:30.  The Bahama Banks are a wonderful place to boat.  Hours were spent gliding over amazingly clear, shallow, turquoise water, about ten(ish) feet deep, sometimes less.  Sometimes alarmingly less!  For much of it you are out of sight of land.  The bottom is always in view and often you'll see conch or great big starfish.  So dreamy.  If ever there was a place that can bring out that zen-like mood, this is it.


 

There's not much else to say about this leg.  It was breathtakingly beautiful, calm and sometimes bordering on a little boring.  There was not much wildlife at all, just a few starfish and one great big turtle who swam by close enough that we held eye contact as we passed.

Turn 360 degrees around
this is all you see!

Mary Rose at anchor
Great Sale Cay

We arrived at Great Sale Cay around 4:00 in the afternoon.  We just relaxed and enjoyed the quiet.  It was a little bouncy at first as the wind was coming at us directly from the South but it was supposed to shift during the night.  It did and things settled down.  Unfortunately it clouded over in the evening, as this is one of the BEST places for star watching that I've ever seen.  It's so dark! Miles and miles from any ambient light. Next time.

We generally take turns getting up during the night while at anchor to take a peek and make sure we're still where we're supposed to be.  Even with our anchor checks we both slept well.

Sailboat coming into the anchorage as the sun was setting
made for a pretty picture.

Crossing to Bahamas - Day One

To take our older coastal cruiser out into the Atlantic, cross the gulf stream and get to the Bahamas in comfort, we pretty much insist on perfect conditions.  Wind speeds in the single digits with no northern component, waves less than a metre (preferable MUCH less than a metre), and no weather (squalls, thunder, etc.) forecasted. Sometimes in the winter we have to wait a long time for such conditions and this year was no exception.  We were provisioned and ready to go by mid December but the weather gods were not cooperating.

Finally, a window appeared that looked pretty close:  half metre waves, twelve knot winds building State side later in the day but we should be well out of the way by then, no rain.  Tired of waiting.  Close enough.  Off we went.

Heading out into the Atlantic

It is a three day trip.  Day one across the gulf stream from Florida to West End Bahamas.  Day two:  across the Bahamian banks to Great Sale Cay, an isolated island anchorage.  Day three: Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay, with the charming town of New Plymouth and quaint little Leeward Marina.

Sunrise.  So beautiful!

Day One:  We left at 6:23 a.m. at first light, following our buddy boat Mary Rose who had the route programmed into their auto pilot. We hand steer and I, for one, appreciate having something to follow.  It makes it much easier once out of sight of land with no reference point to steer by.  The morning started off calm and we enjoyed a breathtakingly beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic soon after we left.

Follow that dot ahead.  It's Mary Rose.

By midday, as expected, the waves began to build.  We knew the last half of the ride would be bouncy, and it was.  But then those winds picked up.  We started to see whitecaps so we knew the winds must be higher than the twelve knots forecasted and they kept climbing.

A little bouncy at first but not too bad.

Soon, we found ourselves in four to five foot waves with occasional six to eight footers, all on the beam, three seconds apart.  Yikes!  In our little rolly-polly trawler that meant holding on tight and despite having everything lashed down, well, stuff was flying everywhere.  Our radar mast came loose and was flopping back and forth.  Jeff struggled to take it down and secure it while being awkwardly flung around the flybridge. Hold on tight, Jeffy!  I would have had a hard time finding you in that mess if you were flung overboard!  At least, as we were hand steering, we were able steer into the bigger waves to control our roll a bit but that only took us off course and meant we'd have to correct later, so we tried to avoid it as much as possible.  It made for a very long unpleasant six hours, with sore muscles building from bracing ourselves and holding on tight.  The worst stretch being the last hour in the shallower water as we approached shore.  We had no choice but to take those big waves directly on the beam.  Yowzers!

We entered the channel at West End, very much appreciating the calm protected water and in plenty of time to check in through customs without a problem.  The customs guard was quite official at first but I soon got him chatting.  He was interested in hearing about winter in Canada.  Apparently he's a big fan of the tv show Ice Road Truckers.  Too funny.  We had intended to anchor out but feeling frazzled from our "thrilling" ride across, we were lucky enough to grab the last spot at the dock to tie up overnight with Mary Rose rafted off our port.  They only charged us for one boat.  Nice.

Celebratory adult beverages!

Warm showers and a few adult libations later we, with other boaters that had been surprised by the conditions out there, learned that the the winds were pretty much double what was forecasted.  A guy on a sailboat with a wind monitor said they measured in the low twenty knots with gusts.  The weather that was supposed to hit far west of us had changed it's mind. Ugh. That  explained a few things.  Lesson learned.  We won't go out there again unless there is NOTHING but fair winds and calm seas across the whole area.

West Palm Beach

City lights make a nice backdrop 

We decided to swing on the hook for awhile and one great place to do so is West Palm Beach.  Palm Beach is a very high-end, happening place.  Someone told us it is the most expensive zip code in the States.  We're not sure if that's true and not that we care about such things anyway, but it IS a great place for people/boat watching. The folks hanging out downtown pretty much sum up the dichotomy of the States:  you see street people sleeping on benches beside chauffeur driven cars waiting for their owners to come out of the wealth management building.  As well there are some pretty spectacular yachts in this neighbourhood to shake our heads at and wonder just who has that much money and what we would do if WE had that much money.  Probably not buy a ginormous yacht to leave sit at a dock as a tax write-off.

Market day

Craft show

But the real advantage to anchoring in Palm Beach is the convenience.  There's a large free dock to park the dinghy which has access to free water to fill our tanks.  A vibrant downtown which always has something going on -- free concerts, farmers' market, dog shows, car shows, craft and flea markets etc etc.  And a grocery store and large movie theatre within a few blocks.

Visitors from the North!
Brenda driving in salt
water for the first time.

We spent about ten days anchored at Palm Beach.  While there, we enjoyed a visit with friends Stephano and Brenda from Harbour West Marina, our home port in Penetanguishene, where  a couple of afternoons were spent on the boat, taking in the sights and sharing meals and libations.

Gran Vida at anchor in Palm Beach

 A Few Sights From Around Palm Beach

Downtown Palm Beach

Several old classics

Lots of huge yachts.  We rarely see them move.

A walkway around the entire anchorage and over two bridges
 My circle circuit - over 8000 steps

Flaglar museum

Nope.  Ain't gonna fit.

The big boat is heading under the lift bridge with the assistance of a
 tow boat pushing an anchored fifty footer out of the way.

B-Bye Stuart

 Those Northern winds are just not cutting us a break at all.  The few days this month that they've shifted away from the North, they have been too strong to consider a safe and pleasant crossing.  Some boats, especially sailboats who are designed for such conditions, have gone across but, in all honestly, we're just not interested in banging around out there for nine or ten hours.  There's plenty to see here while we wait.  Usually things start to settle down in mid-February and we'll get our smooth and pleasant trip across the gulf stream and our Bahamas fix.

We've decided to move on from Stuart though and just cruise around in Florida, maybe work our way to the Keys, we'll see.  It's been a great month here in Stuart.

Here are a few highlights:

Tour of the renos they are completing

Reno tour

A Visit Home

View out the kitchen window of my
daughter and her husband's home.

I zipped home to Penetanguishene for a very short but sweet visit only to shock my newly developed Floridian blood with the coldest snap of the Canadian winter.  Yowzers!  They were calling it the arctic vortex.  I had forgotten how that first breath of really cold air shakes up the lungs.  I spent the weekend curled up in front of the fire, chatting and visiting with my daughter, her husband and my two granddaughters.  I needed that!

Daily Living

We've enjoyed lots of downtime just puttering, long walks, reading, hanging at the pool, happy hours, dinners with friends etc. I've been swimming about a km in the pool several times a week.  I sewed up some covers for our old mis-matched fenders, which looks a little tidier.  Jeff painted all the black trim on the boat which freshened things up.  The gran vida continues.  It's a great life!!

Our good buddies Joe and Connie (M/V Chesapeake) stopped in for a few days on their way through the Okeechobee waterway.  It was great to have a visit, even if it did piss-pour rain almost the whole time they were here.

 Dinner on M/V Chesapeake,  Joe and Connie's beautiful Kadey Krogan Manatee
L to R:  Cindy, Grant, Connie, Joe

We've seen quite a bit of wildlife:  Manatees, dolphins visit often, rays.
On the very top of the tuna tower on a sports fisher boat docked here in the marina,
the osprey have decided to build a nest. 
The owner cleans if off regularly but by the next morning they have
built it again.  Funny.  We think there are now babies in there!

Sewing in the Cockpit

New fender covers.  Tidier.

B-bye Crow Boat

I've written about our friends, Grant and Cindy's (M/V As The Crow Flies) and their engine trouble.  They'd just put new tanks into their boat, provisioned and prepared for a winter in the Bahamas when they discovered a small engine problem that morphed into a major one.  

Grant had accepted a position in Halifax which was to start in the spring.  Considering all, they made the difficult decision to list their boat for sale and head home early.  They've been busy packing and showing the boat and we've tried to do whatever we could to be helpful and supportive during this transition.  

Yesterday they had the boat towed to Indiantown for an engine rebuild and storage.  It was a sad day watching the sick Crowboat being towed away by Tow Boat US.

TowBoatUS, towing As the Crow Flies out of the marina
on "the hip".  They towed them nearly 25 km, through one lock.
She'll get all fixed up with a new engine and hopefully sell quickly.

It's been a good run, Stuart, but we can't sit still any longer.  After a quick oil change, we will pull out of our slip here at Harbourage Marina later today and see where hook drops tonight. Plenty of options.  It's been a great stay!