Green Turtle to Marsh Harbor

FEBRUARY 15, 2007 (Green Turtle Cay to Marsh Harbor) Got up, went for a walk and the weather was calm. By Sunday they are expecting a front with gale winds. I passed the ocean and it looked calm too. We decided to check out and head to Marsh Harbor. Jaycie went and said goodbye to her friends and hopefully we will run into them again. Water was nice, winds picked up as we traveled. Only about a 3 hour cruise. Not as nice as Green Turtle, but we’ll see when we go into town tomorrow. We saw a lot of people we know and a lot of loopers are in the area. We look forward to seeing them. While we were settling in at the marina, the 91 yr. old guy we met at the anchorage came by in his dinghy, as did Candy Dish, Sea Fox and Happy Clams came by after dinner. This marina has a lot of movement in the water (and there is very little wind). We are considering moving to the other side of the island, where a lot of other loopers are staying. It sounds like it is better protected from the weather. We’ll have to see in the morning if the weather is nice enough to move.

Green Turtle Cay

FEBRUARY 14, 2007 (Green Turtle Cay) Nice day. Rented a golf cart and drove into town (about 3 miles away) with ML. Very weird getting used to driving on the left side of the road. What a unique and cool little town. Houses and stores packed tightly together. Went to a little environmental museum. Saw an old jailhouse, an Episcopal church and of course, a graveyard. Talked with some locals and found out there is no crime on the island. They said there is only one cop and he drives around in a golf cart and waves to everyone. They said when a hurricane comes everyone boarders everything up and hunkers down. Then, as soon as it’s over, everyone comes out and helps clean up and rebuild. When we got back from town we went to the beach. We snorkeled and built a fire to cook some hotdogs (on a rusty barbeque that they have just sitting there). At night we went to the restaurant with Jaycie’s friends for a Valentine’s Day dinner. After 1 ½ hours of waiting we got our appetizer and salad, the kids got their pizza, and they said it was going to be about a ½ hr. more for our dinners. Needless to say, we canceled our order and left. We went back to the boat and had a “brownie dinner” that Joyce and Jaycie had made for me. We went up and listened to the Golly Roosters (did I mention they’re the best band in the Bahamas?). Anyway, listened for a while and then headed back to the boat. We are considering leaving in the morning if the weather is nice.

Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay

FEBRUARY 11, 2007 (Great Sale Cay to Green Turtle Cay) It was a beautiful, quiet, tranquil anchorage and everyone had a good nights sleep. It’s been so long, we forgot how nice it was sleeping in an anchorage. The new “battery management system” (from Turkey creek) worked beautiful. Ran a lot of electric all evening and engines cranked over perfectly in the morning. We were off at sunrise and headed for Green Turtle Cay. The ocean was a bit rocky and choppy at first, but laid down as the day went on. It was another long day of about 8 hours. A few shallow spots right to our keel, but we didn’t drag or run aground. The day had sun, but was mostly overcast. The water was crystal clear and looking down it was almost as if you were snorkeling. We saw another pair of dolphins in our bow wake. We arrived around 3pm. A really quaint marina in, what appears to be, a nicely protected cove. Interesting docking fee here. Whatever you order at their restaurant is deducted from your dockage bill. Also, the marina charges 25 cents per gallon of water and a flat fee of $17 for electric for us per day. We got word that there would be a boaters get together at the picnic tables at 5.…so we went. Jaycie met some kids and was very excited. There were five children on a catamaran sailboat. They have been cruising for 3 years and loving it. Four boys and 1 girl, all ranging in age from 2-11. Jaycie went to their boat to watch a movie with the kids and we went to the gathering. We were told there is a great local band that plays at some get together. The guy said, “They’re the best band in the Bahamas…just ask them!“ (I thought it was funny). There was talk about a strong front moving in, that will last about 3 days. We’ll have to decide whether to stay or move on in the morning. As usual, nice night with some great people. John and Sue didn’t make the gathering, unfortunately they got a call that their 17 old cat, back home, had to be put down and were not in the mood to party. We headed back to the boat and Jaycie's new friends asked if she could stay another hour. It’s funny, but the boat felt a little empty without Jaycie aboard….but great to see her with some kids again! FEBRUARY 12, 2007 (Green Turtle Cay) Woke up and I walked some dirt roads to the ocean side of the island. Really nice, quaint small rural town. At the beach I found a small spot in the palms that had a picnic table and a barbeque. We will definitely come back here if we stay. Jaycie had made plans with her friends to play after they all home schooled (great to have other home schooled kids…they all got along great). We went to breakfast with ML (deducted from the marina’s docking bill…of course). The front is going to blow 35 knots and push seas to 12-15’. We could leave now, but we really didn’t get to see much here, or wait until after the storm (probably 4-5 days total). After taking everything into account we decided we would stay. We’re glad, because we like it here. We also have some business work which we need to complete (the stormy days will give us time) and Jaycie has someone to play with (which allows us to work freely). We met some people back at West End who have a similar boat to ours and oddly enough his profession is cemetery monuments (for those of you who don’t know, we are in caskets). Anyway, they are across from us at the dock and are really nice people (I know, all-most-boaters are). So we’re hanging out, doing some work and waiting for the weather to arrive. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that there were a couple of dolphins swimming around in the marina, and right behind our boat this morning. Very cool. Also, the catamaran (Jaycie’s friends) has a line with a seat/sling attached to the mast which the kids “fly” around in…Jaycie is keeping her fingers crossed that she gets to go in it. This afternoon Jaycie’s wish came true and she got her turn. The kids on the boat were having so much fun! They were all climbing all over the outside of the cat…it was quite a sight! One crawling through the sail cover, popping his head out the other end, 2 hanging upside down from something, 1 climbing the mast and yet others climbing the stays (wires/ropes). It reminded me of the monkeys going wild on a car at Great Adventure. More boats came in that we knew (Sara and Vagabond). Went to dinner with everyone…great food.

West End to Great Sale Cay

FEBRUARY 10, 2007 (West End to Great Sale Cay) We left this morning at about 8:00 to head for the Great Sale Cay. We will anchor out tonight and then head to Spanish or Green turtle in the morning. The weather is really nice. The water was really shallow and since there is so much coral around we have to be extra cautious. Even though we are in the ocean and out of sight from land for hours, the reality is if we hit a coral reef and punch a hole in the bottom so badly that we sink….the boat draws 4’….after it sinks we should be able to get out and stand on the coral while we wait for help :D We got to the anchorage and there were about ½ dozen boats there. Some we know, some we don’t. Feels like a good location and we took our boat in deep to be protected form wind and weather should it change. We were told by the other boaters that at 4:00 everyone was going to make a “dinghy raft” and have a party. We took our dinghy around the cay to explore. We found an area where we could beach the boat and went ashore. On this uninhabited and desolate island we found a decayed foundation of something, a concrete staircase, buried in the brush, that went up a hill and at the top was an 8’ high trapezoid. I climbed on top and it had to be the highest point on the island…what a view…we could see our boat on the other side. We headed back to the boats because we didn’t want to miss the party. It was awesome. A dozen dinghies in total. Great people and great fun. We actually met a 90 yr. old surgeon from Long Island who knows Dr. Mountain from North Shore Hospital, who passed away recently, a friend of Joyce’s dad….what a small world! He’s been up and down the coast 50+ times…and still doing it. I hope I will be that active when I am 90. We all went back to our boats and will be heading out in the morning (by this time there are 15 boats in the anchorage). We’ll leave at sunrise because we have about 7 hours of cruising to the next destination.

West End Stay

FEBRUARY 8, 2007 (West End) Love it here! Jaycie washed the boat this morning, while Joyce and I did some odds and ends. Then we went down to the beach to snorkel with Jaycie. She was a little apprehensive after swimming with the Manatees in Crystal River. I talked her into doing it and we were only about 10-15’ from the shore. I was pointing out all kinds of fish, crabs, shells and stuff when I feel her pulling on my hand in a bit of a panic….wouldn’t you know it….a GIANT sting ray is swimming by in front of her…and that ended her snorkeling career! Joyce went with me later and we saw the remnants of a wreck (basically a pile of lumber) that was haven to hundreds of fish, eel, starfish, lobster and all kinds of stuff…really cool. When we got back to the dock, in this beautiful post card marina, you could smell diesel and there is a HUGE slick across the entire marina. Ends up a sport fisher was transferring fuel from one tank to another, must have not been paying attention (don’t ask how!) and overflowed his tank….badly! A boat near him said it looked like a large garden hose flow of fuel being pumped into water….NASTY! Anyway, they worked on cleaning it up all evening, but the damage was done. What a shame! Ended the day with a little party on the dock with some old and new friends. Side note, at the end of our dock is a beautiful 84’ Lazzara yacht. I looked it up on yacht world and it costs around 6 million! Matt snorkeling in the background The dock at night FEBRUARY 9, 2007 (West End) Woke up this morning and you could still see the fuel rainbow in the water. We went to breakfast on a deck overlooking the marina. The weather is spectacular. I finished some caulking on the sundeck that I had started a long time ago. Joyce and Sue hired a van to take us on a tour of West End, Freeport and Port Lucaya. The Island, in general, is really depressed. I didn’t mention earlier, but the marina we are at has been bought by a man who is going to build a huge resort….and I mean huge. It will employ 3,000 to build it and about 4,000 to operate it. Unfortunately, it won’t be the same….I’m glad we got to see it now. The locals are happy because it will help their economy. As we drove around we notice mountains of conch shells. Mr.Kelly (our guide) told us they are from the fisherman who cut out the conch and leave the shells. We stopped and picked up a couple of shells.

Finally, Crossing Over

FEBRUARY 7, 2007 (Lake Worth to BAHAMAS/West end) After sitting in Lake Worth for almost 3 weeks, it appears that “weather windows” during the winter season can be far and few (and small) between. When you come in you hope for a 3 day window, then 2 day window and then, finally, a one day window. Doing the crossing for the first time and not knowing what to expect, we were extremely cautious. Only through experience of seeing what good and bad is (3 week worth!) can you make a somewhat educated decision on crossing. We had just decided that if the next window came and was not usable, we would forget the Bahamas and move on. Fortunately, for us our break came today. We spoke with an English couple, waiting to cross, and they had only been in the marina a couple of days. They were optimistic about a 3 day window and weren’t going to leave today…maybe they’ll get lucky. Today ended up a beautiful day to cross. We left at sunup and headed for the inlet. This time it was relatively calm and uneventful. As we got out into the ocean the chop/swells picked up, but not unmanageable. As the day went on the water got better and better. We saw flying fish (which fly, like a bird, for hundreds of feet), man-o-war jelly fish (which looked like plastic bottles floating everywhere) and dolphins (which always ad to the day). A few swells got big, as we watched Miss Liberty all but disappear behind them. We set our auto pilot, and as antique as it is, only touched the wheel when coming out of the inlet and then going into the Old Bahama bay marina. It definitely made the journey much easier on us. The crossing took about 7 1/2 hours total, but it felt great to be cruising again. What a spectacular feeling being out of sight from land, rocking and rolling with the sun shining on a 78 degree day…BEAUTIFUL! (I know you haven’t heard that word in a while). A side note: being on the boat for 3 ½ weeks was very comfortable and we easily could stay on it for an indefinite amount of time, but without moving, it felt as if we were no longer on a big trip. It felt like we were living on a boat. It‘s great to be back cruising. As we came towards the marina, we noticed that we were in 40’ of beautiful blue/green water and you could see the bottom. The marina is first class, clean, friendly and all the amenities of a resort (which it is part of). We had a frozen drink to celebrate our crossing and went for a swim in the heated pool. It feels so good to be out of Florida and back on our adventure.

One last week

JANUARY 31- FEBRUARY 6, 2007 Looks like Saturday may be our window ….we’ll see. We saw a lot of beautiful yachts pulling in and out of the Marina to fuel, stay, etc. One other one was Sunday Money. Turns out it belongs to Dale Earnhardt. It left after a few days to head up to Daytona for the start of the race season. (Not a bad way to get to work). Well Saturday‘s weather, once again, changed quickly, so we’ll keep waiting. Finally, NOAA reported that Wed., the 7th looks good. Jaycie and I along with John from Miss Liberty got out the zip zaps one day a built a few and raced them on the table with the small track. On the 6th, Miss Liberty rented a car to go see some relatives in Ft. Lauderdale and when they got back we took a ride with them down to the beach to walk around and look at the inlet to see what it was like. It was a whole lot better than last week, so we figured NOAA was finally right. Ran to the store to pick up some last minute groceries (again) and we’re off.

Still here

JANUARY 22, 2007 (Lake Worth) Joyce located a couple of auto stores for my filters and went with Sue (Miss Liberty) to get them. They also stocked up on 6 weeks of food for the Bahamas. I stayed home (on the boat) with Jaycie and we did some engine maintenance. Changed all the hoses on the genset, replaced a goose neck that was corroded and repaired and reinstalled the genset muffler. Also, replaced all engine fuel filters, even though it wasn’t quite time, but don’t want top take a chance of failure when crossing to the Bahamas. Half way through the day it looked as if we might have a weather window tomorrow to cross, however, by later in the afternoon the winds picked up and reports changed. We will wait until the morning to make our decision. Nice thing is that the boat is ready and stocked. Jaycie and I went for a Jacuzzi and swim…which was well deserved! I definitely feel much better knowing the boat is ready to go. JANUARY 23, 2007 (Lake Worth) High winds this morning…glad we didn’t go. There might be a possibility of leaving at 5am tomorrow… but at the moment, I’m against it. If we don’t get this window we will be here for at least another week because there is a front moving in. JANUARY 24, 2007 (Lake Worth) Beautiful morning…but decided last night against going. We joked that we are looking for a weather ‘window” and that this was more like a weather “porthole”. Although it was a nice day, we heard from another boat who did go today and they said it started out nice but got very windy. At the end of the day they were glad to get tied to a dock…. We called it right. Besides, there are always some things on the “to do” list and we would rather do them here than in the Bahamas (we found an unsoldered wire in my fly bridge radio and re-soldered it. Also replace the lower helm radio’s antenna today). Once we’re over there, I would rather be enjoying the islands. Heard fuel could be $5.00 gallon so we fueled up here. This way we are ready to go anytime and will not have to fuel for a long time (well after we get back). As it stands right now, it looks like Sunday could be our window. JANUARY 25, 2007 (Lake Worth) Our Sunday window, changed to Saturday, and then it came and went….no window. We’ll just have to be patient. Winter is a tough time to cross. Weather windows can be 10-20 days apart. JANUARY 27, 2007 (Lake Worth to…..Lake Worth) We woke up at 5:30 (too early) to take advantage of the window. We spoke with Tara,(a sailboat), who had left a short time ago. They were alone, in the dark were through the inlet. It was too rough so they turned back. There was a east wind, more than 10 knots. NOAA (marine weather) said it was suppose to lay down after lunch. It’s about a 7 hour trip, so we waited until around 7:00 and headed out. We also picked up Vagabond (trawler) to our group. Tara tried again, leaving about an hour before us (she travels slower). It was smooth sailing to the inlet and then we made our turn into the inlet….WOW! 4-6’+ short and steep! Boats were in it being tossed like toys. We figured once we passed the inlet the swells would spread out, so we plowed our way through them. We weren’t slamming, but we were putting our anchor under…A LOT! Water was spraying as high as the fly bridge (first time during the trip), and Jaycie was still downstairs in her bunk. Joyce quickly went below to get her up top. While down there she had to remove some pictures from the walls (one had already fallen off-but didn’t break). We then got waked by a big sport fisher passing us at about 20’. Normally I would turn hard into their wake, but the swells were strong and steep I couldn’t turn the boat broadside to them. So not only were we going up and down, but hit hard from side to side. The table on the sun deck was now freely (on carpet) sliding from once side of the boat to the other. What an experience (although it was kind of fun!). We got through the inlet and kept waiting for the swells to spread out….they didn‘t. About 3 miles out we contact Tara who informs us that the swells are not spreading out and they are making no headway…they’re turning around. At this point Boo tosses her cookies and Jaycie says she’s not feeling so well…so we turn around too. Although we could probably have sucked it up for the next 6 hours….but why? We’re in no rush. We’ll just have to wait for another….weather window. We head back to the marina, call in and our slips are still available. JANUARY 28, 2007 My brother Doug flew into Florida yesterday to visit a childhood friend (Stefan and his wife, Andrea-hope I got the spellings right). They all drove up from Miami to visit us. Unfortunately, Doug was just starting to feel lousy (ends up he caught a 24 hour bug!). Even though he felt terrible, he stayed for the day and laid down up on the fly bridge while we talked boating with Stefan and Andrea. They too, would like to do the loop someday. We had a great time, I only wish Doug had felt better. JANUARY 30, 2007 Called Doug to see how he was doing, and he felt much better and was going to go out sailing with Stefan and Andrea. They’re big sailors and even competitively race. Should be a good day for it. We’ve now been here for 2 weeks. Doug actually asked me how it was being here for so long and I told him it’s only 2 weeks (which he found funny). Besides, we really like this marina and it’s so different when you are not on a time schedule. We’ve been staying busy with a lot of business work and some boat stuff. Made some nice friends here (who have driven us places or loaned us their car). Although we had a couple of cold fronts hit us and we have the heat on overnight in the boat, we’ll just keep watching the weather and waiting. Looks like Saturday may be our window : )….we’ll see.