We decided to continue on down the Bahama island chain to the Exumas even though the auto pilot isn't working correctly. We will probably regret it later but there are not any over nighters that we will be doing until we return back the the U.S.
We left Lucaya on the 29th of December at 7:30 AM. The winds were blowing 10-15 knots out of the east and our course is to the southeast so we wouldn't really get much sailing in. We decided to go almost straight south and take the route that goes west of the Berry Islands instead of east of them. This allowed us to sail with the east wind. We were able to sail all the way down until we had to turn southeast to go through the Northwest Channel into the tongue of the ocean on the south side of the Berry's. When we went through the Northwest Channel we couldn't find the light that guides the way until we were within about 150 feet from it. The light was not lit and it was dark and scary out. So much for the Bahamians keeping up with the navigational aids. I'm sure someone will eventually hit the post the light is on and do some major damage to their boat.
We came out of Northwest Channel at 7:30 PM and went by the west end of New Providence island around midnight. We continued southeast to a point just south of two shoaling areas and turned more east onto the great Bahama banks. We picked this area to cross the banks because there were no coral heads around to hit. The sun came up just as we got far enough east where we could head more south down the Exuma chain of islands. We ended this leg of the trip at Warderick Wells island which is part of the Exuma Land and Sea Park. We did 183 nautical miles in 29 hours hand steering all the way. Which is really exhausting by the way.
We will stay here on a mooring buoy and head 10 miles further southeast to Cambridge island tomorrow. There is great snorkeling around Cambridge and we missed it last year so we plan to stay there a week or so.
Everyone have a Happy New Year. I will write more when we have internet connectivity.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Vero Beach to the Bahamas, MON
We left Vero Beach on the 23rd of December. This was the third time we had gotten all ready to leave with two times being cancelled because the weather changed so fast. But, this time was the charm. We left the mooring field at 8:30 AM went down the ICW to the Fort Pierce inlet and headed out. Once out in the ocean we turned south to hug the coast until we got down to the Lake Worth inlet. We arrived outside the Lake Worth inlet around 6 PM and turned left to cross the Gulf Stream. The wind was around 7-9 knots from the southeast so we were motoring right into it, however the seas were only about one foot in the Gulf Stream so the crossing was a piece of cake.
We had a comfortable ride over but had to dodge several cruise ships and cargo ships around the Freeport, Grand Bahama inlet. We passed by there around 5:30 AM while it was still dark so it was a challenge watching for all the ships. We arrived outside Bell Channel, which is the entrance channel for the Grand Bahama Yacht Club where we would be staying. We decided to go to the fuel dock at Port Lucaya and get diesel fuel and check in at customs and immigration which is right there before going over and getting our slip.
We were in the slip by 10:00 AM and ready to take a nap. We didn't get a chance to nap because there were four other boats there that we knew and as boaters are they want to know all the details about the crossing.
We stayed at the marina for five nights. We had Christmas dinner on Margarita, Bill and Margaret, who we were rafted to at Vero Beach. We both supplied the goodies and dinner was great.
On the way over to the Bahamas our auto pilot decided to give us trouble again. Here, I thought we had that all behind us. Now this brand of auto pilot is rated as one of the best and I'm sure I am the only one in the world that is having problems with it. I found a mechanic that works with hydraulics and had him come take a look at it. I told him that several other mechanics had severe problems getting the lines bled. He gave it a try and actually made it worse than it was. Now we are deciding whether to continue on or come back to the states. Hand steering on over nighters is not fun at all.
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
We had a comfortable ride over but had to dodge several cruise ships and cargo ships around the Freeport, Grand Bahama inlet. We passed by there around 5:30 AM while it was still dark so it was a challenge watching for all the ships. We arrived outside Bell Channel, which is the entrance channel for the Grand Bahama Yacht Club where we would be staying. We decided to go to the fuel dock at Port Lucaya and get diesel fuel and check in at customs and immigration which is right there before going over and getting our slip.
We were in the slip by 10:00 AM and ready to take a nap. We didn't get a chance to nap because there were four other boats there that we knew and as boaters are they want to know all the details about the crossing.
We stayed at the marina for five nights. We had Christmas dinner on Margarita, Bill and Margaret, who we were rafted to at Vero Beach. We both supplied the goodies and dinner was great.
On the way over to the Bahamas our auto pilot decided to give us trouble again. Here, I thought we had that all behind us. Now this brand of auto pilot is rated as one of the best and I'm sure I am the only one in the world that is having problems with it. I found a mechanic that works with hydraulics and had him come take a look at it. I told him that several other mechanics had severe problems getting the lines bled. He gave it a try and actually made it worse than it was. Now we are deciding whether to continue on or come back to the states. Hand steering on over nighters is not fun at all.
We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Fernandina to Vero Beach
We stayed in Fernandina Beach for two nights. We dinghies into the marina and walked the main street. There are lots of shops to stroll around in. We also had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, the food was very good.
We departed our mooring and motored down the ICW to Jacksonville Beach where we stopped at Beach Marine. We wanted to go into a marina so we could wash all the salt off the boat. We had quite a bit of sea spray during the first eight hours of our passage south and needed to get it off before the corrosion started. We also discovered that they had a really nice laundry room so Sandy did six loads of laundry.
We left the next morning and continued down the ICW to St. Augustine. It is always a treat to visit St. Augustine. There is so much to see and do there and they have some very nice restaurants. We met some friends that also left from New Bern and did a restaurant hopping adventure. I think it was mostly for the happy hours. We stayed for three nights and then continued on.
We continued down the ICW and anchored at Rockhouse Creek for the night. Our anchor windlass still wasn't working so I used the secondary anchor which only has 30 feet of chain. I have to haul it all up by hand and it can get darn heavy. The chain weighs 40 pounds and the anchor weighs 44 pounds. The following day we traveled 63 miles and anchored in Eau Gallie. We were the only boat at this anchorage. We had gone further than other boats on the previous day. Most of them had stopped 15 miles before us at Daytona Beach. On the third day out of St. Augustine we only had a run of 35 miles to get to Vero Beach where we planned on doing some last minute provisioning to replenish what we used on the way south and to get the darn windlass fixed.
We rafted with a Canadian boat named Moxie. We met Grant and Donna and got to know them, very nice couple.
The next day I took the windlass off the deck and tore into it. I ordered some parts from Defender not knowing for sure what I might need. If I didn't need them they would become spares. After stripping the gears all apart and taking the motor off I discovered that the motor runs fine. As I would put each gear back into the gearbox I would test it. It would go both forward and backward until the final gear went in. I think I had guys from 5 different boats coming by and giving advice. I was really stumped. By this time Margareta had come in and rafted to us. We know Bill and Margaret from the marina at New Bern. It was also Thansgiving so I put the windlass aside and Sandy and I celebrated with dinner on Margareta with Bill, Margaret and Hutch and Linda from Sandcastle. We know Hutch and Linda from the marina in New Bern also. We all brought part of the dinner and it was wonderful.
I needed to call a shop that works on windlass' for some advice but everyone was closed for the holiday until Monday. I finally got ahold of Florida rigging and Hydraulics in The Palm Beach area. I explained to the technician my problem and he respond with 'Oh, that would be the compound gear'. He knew immediately why the problem was. Later that morning we rented a car and drove the 75 miles to their shop. The technician, Buck, met us at the counter and immediately grabbed the gear and confirmed the problem. The compound gear is supposed to turn a quarter of a turn in order to reverse the direction. He had a new compound gear in it by early afternoon. Sandy and I went over to the Garden Mall and had a nice lunch while it was being worked on. Well, the windlass is installed back on the boat and we are now waiting for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We may have one coming up this Thursday night. In the mean time we are strolling over to the beach and just hanging with friends. We know the couples from about 12 boats that are here also waiting to cross over to the Bahamas.
Next post will hopefully be from the Bahama Islands.
We departed our mooring and motored down the ICW to Jacksonville Beach where we stopped at Beach Marine. We wanted to go into a marina so we could wash all the salt off the boat. We had quite a bit of sea spray during the first eight hours of our passage south and needed to get it off before the corrosion started. We also discovered that they had a really nice laundry room so Sandy did six loads of laundry.
We left the next morning and continued down the ICW to St. Augustine. It is always a treat to visit St. Augustine. There is so much to see and do there and they have some very nice restaurants. We met some friends that also left from New Bern and did a restaurant hopping adventure. I think it was mostly for the happy hours. We stayed for three nights and then continued on.
We continued down the ICW and anchored at Rockhouse Creek for the night. Our anchor windlass still wasn't working so I used the secondary anchor which only has 30 feet of chain. I have to haul it all up by hand and it can get darn heavy. The chain weighs 40 pounds and the anchor weighs 44 pounds. The following day we traveled 63 miles and anchored in Eau Gallie. We were the only boat at this anchorage. We had gone further than other boats on the previous day. Most of them had stopped 15 miles before us at Daytona Beach. On the third day out of St. Augustine we only had a run of 35 miles to get to Vero Beach where we planned on doing some last minute provisioning to replenish what we used on the way south and to get the darn windlass fixed.
We rafted with a Canadian boat named Moxie. We met Grant and Donna and got to know them, very nice couple.
The next day I took the windlass off the deck and tore into it. I ordered some parts from Defender not knowing for sure what I might need. If I didn't need them they would become spares. After stripping the gears all apart and taking the motor off I discovered that the motor runs fine. As I would put each gear back into the gearbox I would test it. It would go both forward and backward until the final gear went in. I think I had guys from 5 different boats coming by and giving advice. I was really stumped. By this time Margareta had come in and rafted to us. We know Bill and Margaret from the marina at New Bern. It was also Thansgiving so I put the windlass aside and Sandy and I celebrated with dinner on Margareta with Bill, Margaret and Hutch and Linda from Sandcastle. We know Hutch and Linda from the marina in New Bern also. We all brought part of the dinner and it was wonderful.
I needed to call a shop that works on windlass' for some advice but everyone was closed for the holiday until Monday. I finally got ahold of Florida rigging and Hydraulics in The Palm Beach area. I explained to the technician my problem and he respond with 'Oh, that would be the compound gear'. He knew immediately why the problem was. Later that morning we rented a car and drove the 75 miles to their shop. The technician, Buck, met us at the counter and immediately grabbed the gear and confirmed the problem. The compound gear is supposed to turn a quarter of a turn in order to reverse the direction. He had a new compound gear in it by early afternoon. Sandy and I went over to the Garden Mall and had a nice lunch while it was being worked on. Well, the windlass is installed back on the boat and we are now waiting for a weather window to cross over to the Bahamas. We may have one coming up this Thursday night. In the mean time we are strolling over to the beach and just hanging with friends. We know the couples from about 12 boats that are here also waiting to cross over to the Bahamas.
Next post will hopefully be from the Bahama Islands.
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