Back in the U.S. of A.

We saw that the weather window for crossing the Gulf Stream was going to be good on Wednesday the 16th of March so we hustled our little butts and got ourselves in position to go.

From Black Point we went north to Sampson Cay to refuel. Sampson Cay has a nice little marina in a protected cove. We just went in for fuel and to buy a few groceries. While we were getting fuel we met Juan and Astella aboard 'Far Away' from Annapolis. They were also heading back to the states. They were going to Key Biscayne and Miami and we were going further north to Lake Worth, Palm Beach area. We both had to get to New Providence Island first however. Us to the east end and Nassau and them to the west end and West Bay.

We sailed with them north up to Hawksbill Cay which is one of the islands in the Exuma Park. We were able to pick up a mooring just off the beach. There were only three boats there for the night. Sandy and I went into the beach and scouted around for a couple of hours. On the way back to the boat Juan hailed us to come by and invited us over for dinner that night. Sounded great to me, I wouldn't have to cook.

Astella had made a really nice chicken dish and eggplant and cheese dish. We enjoyed dinner and talking about our travels and stayed until 9 PM. In the cruising mode 9 PM is an hour after midnight. They were getting up early the next morning and heading to West Bay which at the west end of New Providence Island, about 60 miles away. We were just going up to Allen's Cay which is north about 20 miles.

The next morning when we got up we noticed that Far Away had not left and daylight was wasting. Sixty miles is a long way to go during the day. They finally got under way about 8:30. I talked to them on the radio as they were leaving and Juan told me he had to put on a new alternator belt on the engine. Just the night before we were talking about how there is always three things broke on the boat. At the time Juan had only two items in need of repair. He didn't see that one coming.

We made it up to Allen's Cay without incident, after I checked our alternator belt of course. We anchored there for one night and then headed for Nassau in the morning.

To get to Nassau from Allen's Cay we had to cross the Yellow Banks. It is an area of coral heads and shallow water. The skies were partly cloudy and at times the clouds would block how well we could read the water. When we got to the area where the Yellow Banks starts the clouds just kind of parted to let the sun come through. It was like a divine intervention. God looks after fools and sailors. Oh wait, they are one in the same, at least in our case. We were able to pick out the coral heads fine and made it into Nassau fine.

We went into the Nassau Yacht Harbor marina. Now it never fails that when we go into a marina we get put into the tightest spot they have and this was no exception. We were put into the slip at the inside end of the dock where there is no room to maneuver to get out. And on top of that they put a huge catamaran on the face dock behind us. The current flows through Nassau at 2-3 knots so getting out will be quite interesting and we have to leave at first light in the morning.

Come morning, we end up having to wait until 8:00 for the marina office to open in order to check out. Waiting a bit actually helped our departure as the current was slackening and the wind was rather calm. We were able to back straight and as we were approaching the catamaran behind us I could see a woman sitting in the salon and her eyes were getting larger and larger as we got closer. I stopped the aft motion with about two inches to spare and made the forward turn to clear the pilings. A good start to a 30 hour run to the Lake Worth inlet.

Our first leg of the trip would take us north to the northern end of the Berry Islands and then we would turn northwest for Florida. The wind was blowing from the east-southeast around 15-17 knots and we were sailing 7-8 knots. When we turned northwest the wind calmed some, plus the affect of sailing downwind so we were not able to move quite as fast. We definitely wanted to reach the inlet in daylight so we had to motor sail for while to keep our speed up. We did our usual dodging of cruise and cargo ships during the night, especially around the Freeport, Grand Bahama Island area. I was able to watch fireworks at midnight which were being shot from one cruise ship.

We reached the outer buoy at Lake Worth at 1:30 PM on Wednesday after a non-eventful crossing of the Gulf Stream. We were immediately greeted by the Customs and Border Patrol boat which asked there usual questions. We gave the appropriate yes and no answers.

Once in the inlet it was like a shock to the system having so many other boaters around. They were everywhere, on a Wednesday. Don't people work anymore? We went north in the ICW up to North Lake Worth and set the anchor. Thirty-one hours Nassau to Lake Worth. We called into the Customs office and they told us we had 24 hours to come in so they could see us. Even though they took all of our information over the phone they wanted to see out cute faces.

To get to the customs office we had to unload the dinghy, put the outboard on it, dinghy into a small beach, climb up a hill and over a bridge barricade, walk a half mile to the bus stop, wait 45 minutes to catch the 21 bus, go two miles and change to the 1 bus, go four miles to the 12th street stop and walk two blocks to the customs office. The customs officer took our passports, looked at us and that was it. Then we had to reverse the whole process to get back to the boat. At least the 'entertainment' on the bus was priceless.

Since we purchased an all day bus pass we decided to go the the Gardens Mall in North Palm Beach. Again this was a shock to our systems. We hadn't been with this many people or seen so much stuff in a long time. But, we got used to it real quick.

The next morning we headed up the ICW to Jensen Beach for the night. We just stayed one night there and are now at Vero Beach where we will stay for a week or so. It needs to warm up some up north before we go to much further. We actually had to put the blanket back on the bed. The lows at night in the Exumas was 70-72, here it is in the mid 50's to 60, burrrr.

Some more photos

Here are some more photos and a few short video clips.

Calabash Bay, north end of Long Island.










Calabash Bay anchorage.








This is Kumbaya with Jerry and Barb sailing to Conception Island with us.










Lee Stocking Island.

Looking north out onto the Exuma Sound.








Looking south onto the Exuma Banks side.








Looking south onto Exuma Sound.









Starfish at Lee Stocking Island, Coconut Beach.





























Long Island, Thompson Bay anchorage.

Heading Back North

Since I last wrote we have toured Long Island by car, left Thompson Bay, Long Island and went back to Conception Island. Went from Conception Island to Georgetown, Great Exuma, went up to Lee Stocking Island, went further north to Jack's Bay, Great Guana Cay and are now at Black Point, Great Guana Cay.

While at Long Island we rented a car with Jerry and Barb on the sailing vessel Kumbaya and toured the island. First we went to Dean's Blue Hole. This is a deep hole just off the shore. It is the deepest known blue hole in the world. The depth is 663 feet and the world record free diver trains here. I believe the record free dive is 302 feet. I made it down about 20 feet before my head felt like it was going to explode.

We were able to snorkel around the hold and out onto some coral reefs where the ocean comes into the cove. Lots of fish and sand dollars.

Dean's Blue Hole








Dean's Blue Hole

















St. Mary's Church in Clarencetown, Long Island.












We left Thompson Bay and went back to Conception Island after an overnight stop at Calabash Bay, Long Island. On the way into Calabash Bay we saw two whales breach about 200 yards from the boat. We later found out that they are Brides whales. They are called that because when they blow the water out of their blow holes it looks like a brides veil. It was very cool to see them. We didn't go ashore since we had already done that on our previous stop here.

We left early the next morning for Conception and got in after about a 4 hour trip. The sail over was very nice with wind about 15-18 knots off the beam and seas about 3-4 feet. After anchoring we went ashore and went over to the ocean side of the island to snorkel the reef and a wrecked boat. We saw lots of fish there also. We hung out on the beach and did some swimming in the cool waters.

We left after staying three nights and started our trek back north. Our first stop was back in Georgetown. The annual regatta was going on so there were over 300 boats anchored in the area. We found a spot just off Monument beach for the night.

The next morning we departed for the 25 mile sail up to Lee Stocking Island. There was a cold front approaching and we wanted to get anchored before it reached us. Well it moved faster than was predicted and about 5 miles out of the anchorage the winds built to around 20 and the seas came up to 4-5 feet. We had to go thru Adderley cut to get back to the anchorage and the cuts are famous for being treacherous in bad weather. When we got to the cut the tide was going in on the flood, which I planned our arrival for, so the wind and current were going the same direction. This keeps the seas at the cut from building to dangerous levels. We started into the cut just and it started to rain. We turned around to wait out the rain. We have been in a rain shower before where we couldn't see the bow of the boat. The rain didn't get that heavy this time and after waiting about 10 minutes we made it into the cut and picked up a mooring at the Caribbean Research Center. We stayed five nights there waiting out bad weather. While there we went over to Coconut Beach and snorkeled and climbed Perry's Peak which is the highest spot in the Exuma's at 123 feet.


View from Perry's Peak



































Tug and barge rocks.








We finally got a good weather window and headed back out Adderley Cut into Exuma Sound (Ocean side) and went north 12 miles to Cave Cay cut. Cave Cay cut was an easy entry to cross from the sound to the banks. Once on the bank side we headed north another 15 miles to Jack's Bay, Great Guana Cay.

We stayed at Jack's Bay for two nights. We were the only boat there and the winds were light and the sky clear. At night we could see thousands of stars with no lights around for miles. Since we were alone we decided to take our showers outside on the transom. We had hot water, warm temperatures and light wind, which all make for a pleasant outdoor shower. Here I am all soaped up, butt naked on the stern with life at its zenith when the water pressure dies. Yep, the fresh water pump decided to give it up. After 10 years I guess it was time. Well, I had to go below and fill a bucket with fresh water using the hand pump in order to rinse off. Just when you think all is well the boat hiccups. Luckily we carry a spare pump and I had it changed in about 30 minutes. I about have to stand on my head to change it and when I was done I needed another shower so it got a good test.

We are now anchored at Black Point where we will do laundry before heading further north. It is hard to believe but we are actually getting homesick from the good old USA. We are pretty sure we will now head back over to Florida. We will still go slow and make stops but it is time to return.

I still have some short videos of our anchorages to upload but just can't get the bandwidth to do it over here. Eventually I will when we get back to the states.