Staniel Cay

We had a great sail from ECSLP (Friday)  to Staniel Cay reaching 8 knots in a fresh breeze ‘racing’ friends on another cat [Salty Surfer] and friends on a 40’ monohull  [Spirit].  We were clearly leading the other boats until the waves grew (3 – 4 feet) and got the best of us while the monohull pulled away.   Ya just can’t out reach something that carries that much sail, has a longer waterline and outweighs us in that kind of waves.

We anchored across from Club Thunderball for a rolly night amongst a dozen other boats.  This is right next to the grotto where the James Bond movie, Thunderball , was recorded.  For the next few days we’ve opted for a slip to help Mary get the rest she needs to get over this bug bite and for the next leg of the adventure.  The place we’re staying at sounds high end  (Staniel Cay Yacht Club) but it’s far from that! 

Staniel  Cay is very different from Bimini, there is lots of construction here, few ruins and less obvious poverty.  The people are equally kind and generous.   One of the pics shows a recreation hot spot, where highly competitive games of dominos are played.

The next leg means heading south to Black Point, the largest settlement in the north and central Exumas.   Here we hope to get a Bahamian cell phone, rum (!!!) and have the clinic nurse look at Mary’s bite.  Our plan for now is to stay in BP for several days and slow down the pace.

Lost items….  Ya gotta ask yourself, how can you constantly lose stuff in a boat with less than 200 square feet of living space?  Somehow we regularly lose ‘stuff’ that is often found while hunting for the currently immediately needed stuff.  After much research and consideration we’ve decided boats have lives of their own and enjoy watching the humans shuffle stuff around.

CHeeRS!
m & d

Yes, kids, those are sharks under our boat.... and Mary told me go for a swim!

This is a picture shows the area where we anchored Friday.

Yesterday, the locals had a VERY serious game of dominos going on here in the settlement center.

ECLSP

As beautiful as the park is during daylight, I’ve got to tell ya, the night sky is equally outstanding!  To us, it seems like the stars are bigger, brighter here and in much greater numbers. 

Bug bites can be a real pain, especially when they are on your bottom and look serious.  Poor Mary got a nasty bite from some kind of creeping beast (black widow, scorpion, ???) that made her sick to say the least.  Lucky for us another cruiser is a retired physican from England that looked it her.  Dr. Mike was impressed with the reaction (fever, chills, swelling, reddness etc) enough to stop by multiple times to check in.  All was fine except he kept telling us how far from medical help we were and that if it got worse, air lift is an option.  I am happy to report that today, 3 days after the bite Mary is up and doing great.  In fact she is sweeping the floor and I’ve seen her look for her cleaning supplies (a good sign!).

With Mary’s improved bite situation and the weather looking good, we’re leaving tomorrow for Staniel Cay.  Our goal is to make it to Farmers Cay in time for the First Friday in February Festival in Farmers Cay (known as the 5F).  This local event features; music, local foods (that would include Kalik) and bahamain sailboat races, the whole thing sounds like too much fun to pass up!

CHeeRS!
m & d

Destiny as seen from the top of Boo Boo Hill

Another view from the top of Boo Boo Hill

A rough trip to ECLSP

After “Mr. Toads” wild ride (20 nautical miles which equals 4.5 hours) we arrived in the calm of the land and sea park to sit out another front.  On this leg the water was coming over the bow all the way back to the cockpit.  Often I could not see forward because of the water covering the window and the boat vibrated on each of these waves.  Some of the water coming over the boat overwhelmed the hatches and we had sea water pouring into the cabin.   But, this is a stunningly beautiful place.

CHeeRS!

m & D

Needless to say after more than 4 hours of this, I was ready for a beer or two!

This is the view our our backyard at the ECLSP....

Normans Cay

On the trip to Normans Cay (google “Normans Cay” +Carlos Lehder to learn about its past as a drug center) the seas smoothed out somewhat to be a nice motor sail, a sharp contrast to how the day started.  Norman’s provided us a long needed chance to get off the boat (first time since Bimini) to walk around and stretch our legs.  The entire shore line of Norman’s had conch shells everywhere.  The Cay itself only had a small bar (hamburgers are $18 and Kaliks are $6) but miles of trails, beaches to roam along with the chance to see some of the ruins of Carlos Lehder’s  mini city.  Again, weather kept us here for longer than we expected but we were lucky enough to get a break by getting a mooring ball at the Exuma Cay Land and Sea Park. 

CHeeRS!

m & d

One of Lehder's planes that missed the runway...

 Just a few of the ruins on Norman's Cay

West Bay, New Providence

We had an easy motor sail to a beautiful and well protected anchorage in West Bay on the western coast of New Providence.  This was a great place to rest, recharge and we avoided Nassau.  We left in fog without any wind and the water was like glass.  When the fog burned off we could clearly see all the sea life on the bottom 16 plus feet below.

Our next stop was Highborne Cay for fuel and water along with a good night sleep.  In contrast to the smooth seas when we arrived, we woke up again to bouncy conditions and lots of wind.  Now we needed to work the conditions and get our desperately needed fuel ($5.20 a gallon and water, $.50 a gallon).  Filling tanks while bouncing takes some acrobatic skills and lots of luck.

CHeeRS!
m & d


Fog leaving West Bay

Ahhhh, a calm day!

Crossing the Great Bahamas Banks

Anchors were up by 7:15 and we preceded our slog across the banks.  We motor sailed for 9.5 hours making it to the NW light just as it was getting dark.  So, here we are in the middle of nowhere and we anchor.  Needles to say it was an eerie feeling anchoring so out of sight of any land.  We were not the only brave souls out there; we saw the anchor lights of other boats spending the night.  And what a night it turned out to be!!!  We started rocking and rolling just after midnight (like a cork in a washing machine!)  and  Mary had to restrain me from calling our friends at 4 am to up anchor and move on.  I did make the early call to get started but managed to restrain myself until 5 am.

CHeeRS!
m & d

checking our charts

Bimini to Cat Cay 1-17

We left Blue Water Marina bound for our staging anchorage at North Cat Cay to cross the Great Bahamas Banks.  The weather was as predicted, gusty winds on our nose and showers due late afternoon.  No sooner did we get anchors down when  it started to rain, and this was like a Florida summer thunderstorm.  The rain went on for hours with winds as high as 29 knots. 

CHeeRS!

-m & d

Mary's last day on the beach in Bimini

N. Cat Cay



Internet finally!!!

Friends,

Just a quick note to say we're safe and on a mooring ball in the exuma land and sea park sitting out another  weather front (we went through winds of 25 knots today to get here and the worst will be tomorrow).  I know there's lots to catch up on, but we're exhausted and we'll do that tomorrow.

FWIW, this park is absolutely beautiful - pics and more to follow.

m & d

Saturday in Bimini

We started today by capturing a beautiful sunrise off our marina's dock.  Some of you may think this is all fun and games for us, but today was boat chores day.  In order to leave Bimini and move east and south, today we needed to schlep fuel and water from the marina's fuel dock and water station to our boat.  We also had to plot our course and make final preparations.  Of course we did manage to fit in a dinghy exploration trip to South Bimini.

The highlight of our day was meeting.... Gunter, the hunter!  Gunter is feared by lobsters all over Bimini for his hunting skills.  We met Gunter while he was fueling up and I had to pass on his offer to accompany him  on his quest for the elusive (to me)  lobsters.  Hours later Gunter arrived back at Destiny with a bucket full of HUGE lobsters.  Not only was he generous with his catch, he taught us how to clean and prepare them.  We enjoyed talking with him and were happy when later that evening he and his wife bicycled back for a visit.  With 20+ years of Bimini experience, they shared much about the history and culture of this island.  You meet the nicest people while cruising.

We watched a beautiful sunset and scrurried back to the boat for a lobster feast.

CHeeRS!
m & d

Gunter, the hunter!

Just look at these babies!!!  Oh ya, they were delicious.



Bimini, day 2

After two days on this island we're both confused as to which side of the road the folks here are supposed to drive on.  Maybe it's the narrow streets, the friendly people wanting to beep at everyone or maybe there just aren't any rules to driving???  Anyway, it makes you pay attention to where you're walking and who or what is on the road.

We've been discovering the island, tasting the food and finding some nice shells.  Speaking of food, today we discovered Bimini bread.  We're having to exercise will power because the bakery is too close to the marina for our own good. 

Looks like we'll be here until at least Saturday waiting for a weather window to travel east.  If you have to be 'stuck' somewhere, this is a great place to wait out weather.

CHeeRS!
m & d

The wind and waves are keeping us here as you can see below.

This is what can happen if you do not keep an eye on those channel markers!

Bimini, 1-11-11

Hey folks,


The anchor was up at 6:15 am in very thick fog and we were one of the last boats to leave.  Mary skillfully navigated around the cape of florida in 2 -3 foot seas and by the time we caught the gulf stream, the fog was lifting, the seas were settling down and the sun started to shine!  We shared the gulf stream with lots of freighters and a few other sailboats.

We arrived  at the customs dock in Bimini 9 hours after weighing anchor and got a 90 day cruising permit.  Since the weather is not predicted to be favorable for traveling, we got a slip at the blue water marina and we'll be here for several days.  We're looking forward to exploring the charm of Bimini along with tasting some of it's culinary delights.

The water color of the gulf stream was the deepest shade of midnight blue (of course the depth at some points was 2800 feet) and as soon as we got close to Bimini we found the water to be a crystal clear blue.  We've been told by other cruisers to expect nicer and clearer water in the Exumas if that is possible.

CHeeRS!
m & d

Here's a pic of boat sentinel

Tuesday we cross to the Bahamas!

That's right, looks like it will be anchor up @ 6:30 for our hop to Bimini!!  We're fueled up (only $4.66 a gallon!), got lots of water and all the safety gear has been checked.

CHeeRS!
m & d

Here's a look at today's sunset from No Name Harbor

miami - marine stadium

Our slog down the ICW to Fort Lauderdale was long and for those of you that have not done it before, there are lots (23 to be exact!) bridges from Lake Worth to Lauderdale!  We did well and only had to wait for 2 openings.  Waiting means going around in circles fighting big boat wakes for 30 minutes and is not fun to say the least.  Nine and half  hours later we completed the 55 mile trip to Lauderdale (for you non boaters, remember we only travel at 5-7 miles an hour!).


After watching a beautiful sunrise on the beach it was time to move on to boat chores.  Today we needed to transfer fuel into the primary tanks, get fresh water and of course get a pump out (dump our nasty waste - if you need to know more, google "marine holding tanks").

To get to the pump out dock I simply needed to back out of our slip 50' to the  'T' head of another dock (note here, this 'other' dock is cement & one dock over there was a 170', $28 million boat).  All was going well, fighting the tide and then it happened, we got hit on our beam (side) with a gust of wind... let's just say Mary got very up close to a HUGE, shiny, stainless steel anchor on another boat as she fended off our boat.  Did I say the anchor was large.... at the time it looked like the size of a VW micro bus!  Disaster was avoided.  To add insult to injury, the pump did not work and now the winds had picked up too much (we saw 27 knots)  to sail off shore, meaning more bridges on our way south.

Tonight we're enjoying a view of the city lights of Miami.  Tomorrow we're planning on moving to No Name Harbor to get in place for a possible hop to Bimini on Tuesday.

CHeeRS!
m & d

Sunrise at Fort Lauderdale.

One of 23 yesterday and hey look, another bridge is in sight!

change of plans!

We've been socked in all day by torrential rains and a weather window that is not cooperating.  Lake Worth is an okay place to wait out a short window but not good for an extensive stay that we're facing.  So, tomorrow (predicted to be rain free) we plan to head south to the upper keys and make our crossing to Bimini sometime next week. 

Stay tuned as "things" tend to change.

CHeeRS!
m & d

This is a picture taken at sunrise just south of cocoa village on the ICW.

Lake Worth

No drama today, just dealing with bridge openings and all that goes with it.  We're anchored in North Lake Worth with dozens of other boats all waiting for a weather window.  Looks like we may have a weather window early this Sunday morning.

Here's a look at sunrise over Peck Lake.

The next few days we'll be exploring and getting final provisions.  Until next time....

CHeeRS!
m & d

peck lake

What a day!  A desperately needed part was found locally (and delivered to us!) letting me repair a plugged thermostat.  Talk about nervous, handling tiny (and expensive) parts while dangling over water and leaning over the edge of the boat. Whew, nothing lost!

Today we headed out once again in a southerly direction ending at Peck Lake just south of Stuart.  A short dinghy ride takes us to a secluded  beach on Hobe Sound.  Our friends, Rich and Beth, caught up with us only to run aground while trying to anchor.   Who needs TV when we have this kind of entertainment???

Weather for crossing to the Bahamas looks questionable for the next few days so we'll amble down the ICW "african queen" style.

CHeeRS!
m &  d

mr. "T" saves the day!!!

What a beautiful sunrise and run down the ICW.... okay, we had some rain, high winds and late afternoon drama.
Yea, a new to us engine buzzer let us know that all was not well in paradise...  Our primary engine started missing and buzzing nonstop.  OMG, what are our adventurers to do now? 

After a panic stop (ya know, the kind that makes hair turn grey), we anchored and decided to push on with a new plan.  Mr. "T",  our tiny dinghy engine was promoted to big papa engine.  Yup, we motored on to Vero Beach City marina where our travelers are now on a mooring ball.  Tomorrow is a new day, and hopefully we'll find an outboard mechanic that will fix our primary engine so we can head south.

Until next time.

CHeeRS!
m & d

1-1-11

Wahoo, we left the Titusville slip at noon!  A beautiful day on the water escorted by dolphins yet with strong winds on our nose.  Dropped the hook just north of cocoa village planning to get close to Vero tomorrow.

CHeeRS!
-m & d