One Month to Abacos

The heavy winds died down (FINALLY) and after several conversations with our new boater friends in West End, it was time to traverse the approximately 100 nautical miles to the "prime" cruising grounds in the Sea of Abaco.  In order to do so, we had to travel due east - and of course the winds were blowing from due east!  That meant we had to go directly into the wind and could not sail.


Up at first light (6:45 AM) since it was a high tide, all 6 boats traveling together, decided to take a short cut through Indian Pass.  It worked well thus cutting off about 15 miles of our journey.  We then turned the engine up as far as we could and made about 5 knots in 2-3 foot seas winds blowing 15-18 knots all the way to Great Sale, a large cay that provided good anchoring protection.  Upon arrival at 4:30 PM, we had a nice dinner and collapsed into bed.


Next day we repeated this scenario (except the seas were rougher and a bit higher) and the boat made only about 4 knots all the way to Spanish Cay.  Yeah!  We were in the Sea of Abaco and the conditions immediately improved.  One of our new boat friends, Deb and Denny, s/v True North, from Deadwood, South Dakota, took a slip nearby.  We soaked in the marina's hot tub and toasted that we had finally made it to the lovely cruising grounds!  We had a wonderful grouper dinner and decided the next day, we would go to Green Turtle Cay just 14 miles away and check into the marina for more recouperation and fun.


Green Turtle is only 3 miles long and 1 mile wide at its widest point with a population of 450.  It is the home of New Plymouth, an English settlement dating from the 1750s.  We rented a golf cart to explore its charming little homes and today will attend one of its only churches, the historic Anglican Episcopal church that was recently refurbished and looks over the harbor.


When we arrived here, our friends the Buschers from the Sail Club were here on s/v Serendipity.  They are awaiting their son and his family, who are flying in from Florida to join them for a week.  Our friends, Sue and Gene Fuller, on s/v Yorkshire Rose went to Double Breasted Cay and are heading back here to join us either today or tomorrow.  Our friends, Diana and Joe Lehr, on s/v Cavalier, are on the mooring ball at Dinner Key, Miami, FL waiting for a weather window to cross over.  We hope they can still join us.


Check out our pictures below by clicking on them!  Our plans are to stay here for a few days and then go through Whale Cut to Treasure Cay..  


Click on Pictures

At West End

We left at 3 AM on Friday morning from Key Biscayne with the lights of the Miami skyline in the distance.  We traveled with s/v Yorkshire Rose crewed by our friends, Sue and Gene Fuller.  We needed to leave during an ideal "weather window" when the seas and winds would be the best for the 90 mile crossing through the Gulf Stream.  It was a warm starry night with winds out of the east southeast at 16 knots. We were hoping the winds would calm a bit, as forecasted, but that did not happen very much!  The seas were a bit confused, with swells between 3 and 4 feet.


About half way through the trip, I (Joanne) decided to go down below for a nap.  Big mistake!  I instantaneously felt queasy and that feeling remained with me through the rest of the trip.  Bleu Kitty found a nice pillow on the floor in the main cabin and hung in there!  He didn't look too happy, but never got sick or complained.


Thirteen hours later we arrived in Paradise!  Whew, we were tired and after a nice meal out, we crashed and spent yesterday cleaning up and recouperating.


We love the Old Bahama Bay Marina and Resort here in West End.  Cost is $3 a foot on the weekend; $2 a foot during the week.  You have all the resort amenities e.g., pool, activities center, bikes, etc. 

We went bike riding yesterday with the Fullers (only one road out of the resort) to a town.  We wanted ice cream and we were told that a lady called Lorri sold it from her home.  So when we got about 1-1/2 miles down the road, we asked the locals and sure enough, they directed us to her place.  She was a very nice lady in her 40's who is a seamstress and also serves ice cream cones out of her kitchen!  So good!

This morning we asked the resort to take us to the local Catholic church, St. Michaels.  They only have one Mass at 8 AM.  It was a lovely service - we were practically the only whites there.  The people were so hospitable.  We loved the singing and the sign of peace and singing happy birthday to those celebrating this week.  Afterwards we had sandwiches, fruit, pastries, coffee, sodas, etc. and everyone spoke to us and we felt so welcome!

The Fullers left today for Great Sale.  Since there is a blow coming in on Tuesday, we decided to stay here.  We will try to join them later. 

Check out some of our photos below by clicking on

Photos !


Postscript:   We met some really wonderful sailors here in the marina - Fred and Joanie on s/v Heavenly Scent from Missouri/Colorado,  Carl & Barbara Bretko on s/v Wind Traveler from Bradenton and Denny & Deb Mills on s/v True North from Deadwood, South Dakota.  Yesterday we all rented a limo to take us on a tour of Grand Bahama Island.  We went to lovely gardens, lunch and shopping at Port Lucaya Marketplace and Marina, etc.  Since we are held up waiting for a windy front to pass, we are having a Storm Survivor Happy Hour on our dock tonite!  We hope to leave either Thursday or Friday when winds and sea calm down again.

Underway Again!

Seventeen days ago we left Punta Gorda and most of the time, we've been in Marathon. That was not our intention, but the weather this spring has held us up with thunderstorms and winds coming at us in the wrong direction! Today we left the Marathon Mooring Field and moved around to Banana Bay, a nice little marina along the Intercoastal Waterway. Tomorrow we continue to Islamorada, a lovely anchorage with our goal to get to Biscayne Bay in the next few days. There is supposed to be a "weather sindow" this Friday and Saturday and we are hoping to take advantage of it and cross the Gulf Stream to West End, Bahamas. We'll see... We've had fun in Marathon. Last night we had cocktails aboard s/v Yorkshire Rose with Sue and Gene Fuller and the crew of s/v Lickety Split, Pam and Don Brandt. It was great chatting about all their adventures!

Hanging out in Marathon, middle of the Keys

On Saturday our weather was not favorable for going down the keys so we decided to move from the Marathon Yacht Club to Boot Key Harbor, the City Marina Mooring Field. There are hundred of mooring balls and we picked up our ball on Row R number 8. We then take our dinghy to shore to go wherever we want! Yesterday, we had a fun time visiting our friends, Diana and Joe, on s/v Cavalier. We had a wonderful swim in their saltwater pool over at Marathon Marina and then had a great early dinner at a nice restaurant. Our boat was moving really s l o w so we decided to have a diver check out the prop and the bottom of the boat. He scraped off some gunk on the prop blades. Today we tested the boat by motoring it around the marina and sure enough, it was going much faster. So we are all set for our trip down to Miami. When will that be? We think the weather will improve on Friday or Saturday. We hope to motor that way and spend some time in Coconut Grove, Miami while we wait for the north winds to abate for our crossing over to West End, Bahamas. Bleu Kitty is having fun on the boat and is quite a good little cat. He seems to be enjoying his trip on Eagles Wings!

Cruising down the west coast of Florida

Richard, Joanne, Diana and Joe 

It's March 21st, the first day of spring (and my 65th birthday!)  We are docked at Marathon Yacht Club in the middle of the Keys and its a gorgeous day. 

Since our last posting, we spent a few days waiting out a nasty storm that finally hit us on Tuesday.  The wind howled over the water, but our anchor held firm.  Unfortunately, our friends on s/v Can't Agree had dinghy motor problems and decided to return home to Punta Gorda to fix the problem.  We are hoping that they will catch up to us in a few days as we meander down the coast and then over to Miami's Mooring Field at Coconut Grove.  We spent a lovely night anchored at Little Shark River, in the Everglades.  There is no cell phone or wifi coverage in this remote part of Florida, but we enjoyed the peacefulness of the place before we sailed down to Marathon yesterday.


We're planning on having a nice birthday dinner here and then heading over on the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW) to Islamorada and then onto Miami.  We heard from some other sailing friends on s/v Yorkshire Rose that are also heading over our way and we hope to meetup with them too! 

Photos

PS We are having trouble inserting photos into the blog.  May not have internet computer access for a while but will still get email on our phones.

Cruising

We're sailing to the Abacos.

It all started last fall when we attending a Punta Gorda Sailing Club meeting. The speaker showed drop-dead gorgeous pictures of the Abacos, Bahamas! Sitting next to us were our friends, Diana and Joe. We looked at each other and said, “Let's do it!” Sitting a few rows away were cruising buddies, Maureen and Tom. They also chimed in and before we knew it, we were all going!

Fast forward to Friday, March 14, the Day of Departure! Whew, as we pulled away from the dock, we rechecked our “lists” - did we remember our passports?, did we have all our meds?, what about enough food for Bleu Kitty, our 3-year old Persian sailing cat? As we locked the doors to the house, Joanne remembered that we still had cold food in the refrigerator to load on the boat!

 After strong North winds blowing the day before, the water was lower than normal by 6 inches but rising.  Tom and Maureen decided to head out slowly.  Whoops - first exciting moment! Tom and Maureen in s/v Can't Agree (they couldn't agree on the name of their boat!) ran aground in the Ponce Channel.  Ten minutes later, they were free. Coming along behind them, we bumped once before passing the Ponce Park dock.

Next, a boisterous sail down Charlotte Harbor with an East wind sometimes gusting to 20 knots approached the Channel Five Marker the died and the motor came on. We anchored off of Ding Darling under a beautiful moonlit sky. Our first night aboard we cooked up a wonderful spagetti dinner and collapsed into a sound sleep. 

Up at first light, we motored through the Miserable Mile out to San Carlos Bay before we hoisted the sails. Crab Pots ahead! They come up on you fast when you are not looking and wrap around your prop. We expect many many more in Florida Bay. 

An East wind that clocked to South throughout the morning forced the motor on first for motor sailing and then to motoring. We took a free slip at the Marco Island Yacht Club for the night to enjoy the pool and a shoreside shower. Sunday we move over to Smokehouse Bay a mile or so away to join s/v Can't Agree while we wait for a weather window to move down to Little Shark River or Cape Sable and then down the Florida Yacht Channel to the Keys. 

Our friends in s/v Cavalier, Diana and Joe, sail and motor a lot faster so they elected to go from Fort Myers Beach all the way to Indian Key near the Everglades. Tomorrow they expect to be in Marathon.

Valentine's Day Cruise to Boca Grande



IYC Cruisers/Bikers pause for a picture on Boca Grande Beach


Valentine's Day - Time for Cruising!   We led a cruise of 11 boaters (24 people in all) from the Isles Yacht Club to the newly renovated Boca Grande Marina.  What wonderful spring weather and fun motor sailing on a gorgeous day!  We ate dinner at the Eagle's Grill, their newly renovated restaurant. We dined under a full moon on their beautiful weather-protected porch area.  We also led a  bike ride through the island enjoying the golf carts, tourists and sights along the way.  Clayborne Young paid us a visit as he did research for his website, Salty Dog Cruiser's Net.  Clayborne is also the author of books about cruising the Florida coast and it was a pleasure meeting him.  Check out our photos at https://picasaweb.google.com/100014425150092582097/IYCCruiseToBocaGrande#

Clayborne Young



Sunrise over IYC Boats at Boca Grande Marina