25 November 2014

Grand Cay, Bahamas

We left West End on Thursday the 20th. Our intent was to sail 53 miles to Grand Cay. After we we out for a few hours fighting a 3 knot current and the wind, we changed our destination to Great Sale Cay, then found Mangrove Cay a more favorable anchorage for the night. You gotta be flexible.

Mangrove Cay is a small, 1 square mile piece of coral rock island in the middle of the Banks. It provided a safe anchorage and a place to dinghy around. We did catch fish, though small ones. Then two days later we sailed to Great Sale Cay, quite a bit larger with sandy beach on one side and mangroves on the other. We dinghyed around, swam, fished and walked Bella. 

We had been advised to buy a “look bucket”. A look bucket is a 5 gallon bucket with a plexiglass bottom, it is used to look into the water to check to see your anchor to assure it is properly set, it is like looking through a swim mask without getting your face wet. Robin and I launched the dink and set off looking for our anchor. It was a little bumpy and search as we could we couldn’t find the anchor, the chain stirred up the bottom making it cloudy. After a many passes and a few choice words, we decided if we couldn’t see it, it must be buried.

Skip loves the 20hp motor on the dink, it will do 21kts. We were zooming along, looking for the flats to fish on when we found them, rather abruptly. We are still learning to “read” the water. Reading the water is learning to approximate the depth by the color, dark blue, deep ocean, light blue, 30 ft, green 12-15 ft, the lighter the green the shallower, yellow to white is shoal water, 5 feet or less. It is slightly complicated by grasses or rock coralheads that may appear dark.

We met a couple of guys on a trawler, Diesel Goose, (like Beetle Juice). Kim owns the boat and talked his brother in law Tim, to cruise with him for a month or so and to help him cross the Gulf Stream. They are enjoyable and they fish alot. They provided us with a mangrove snapper for dinner one night.

We had a beautiful sail to Grand Cay yesterday, exactly what you would expect a Bahamas day to be, bright sun, 10 knot breezes, clear water. Kim had arrived earlier than us and radioed to help guide us through the shallow channel into the anchorage. We went to Rosie’s for dinner. 

Grand Cay is a little settlement of a couple of hundred people. Their main commerce seems to be fishing. We saw huge grouper and bags of cleaned conch on the dock. They were cleaning fish late into the night. Every question you ask is answered by “ask Rosie”. Rosie is the mayor, marina proprietor, restuarant owner, and owner of most businesses on the island. Rosie is a guy and his wife’s name is Gerry. The telephone store, bar, restuarant, and liquor store open on request. If you need the phone store opened, go see Racquel, the bar maid, (Rosie’s daughter). There is an all grades school, “Shark School”, all of the students a dressed in green uniform slacks or skirts, and white shirts with neckties.

Where we are now

Follow the track 

He calls his bike ET

Diesel Goose

19 November 2014

West End, Grand Bahamas

Yesterday was a lovely Bahamas day, 80 degrees and sunny until late afternoon when you all sent us a little of your cold front to bring us back to reality. It rained a little but we made the best of it talking to other cruisers. 

Last night we had a celebratory bottle of champagne, tenderloin and stone crab claws and lobster caught not far from the boat, we bought from a local (fresh). A nice bottle of wine compliments of Miss Nancy topped off a fine meal. The after dinner movie was “Must Love Dogs”.

Today we considered biking the 16 miles to Eight Mile Rock, a town with the local phone service store to get Bahamian cell coverage. About 5 miles out Robin’s bike, which we had signed for with our lives, suffered a chain malfunction. As we were trying to reinstall the chain we realized we could use a tool of some kind to brake the chain free. A police officer stopped evaluated our dilemma and came back wth a tire iron. As he told us when he was younger he had bikes, WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, with the tire iron and soon we were on our way again. We decided to go back and stopped at the local grocery and a pub for a Kalik and some food.

Tomorrow we will go back out in the ocean, head north for about 16 miles, then turn in at Memory Rock and enter the Little Bahama Bank. Little Bahama Bank is a realitively shallow body of water that is about 85 miles wide and 35 miles long. The depths are between 0 and 24 feet. We watched over the banks today as the wind blew 15 -20 and the seas were white caped but less than a foot high. We believe we will head to Great Sale Cay ( pronounced “key”) and spend a day or two at anchor. After we will head toward Walker’s Cay, Grand Cay, Double Breasted Cay and on down the Abacos to Green Turtle Cay.

Sorry, but we are having fun

18 November 2014

West End, Grand Bahamas

Well we’ve made it! West End, Grand Bahamas, the beginning of our next adventure.

We had been watching for an opportunity to cross over from Fort Lauderdale, FL. The weather patterns here are very changable due to the frequent “northerlies” from your way. When a northerly comes in the wind blows from the north and creates unfavorable conditions in the north flowing Gulf Stream. We had been in a pattern of northerly breezes. As a northerly passes the wind clocks around to the east then southeast and eventually back north as the next front approaches. Sunday the wind started blowing from the east and was predicted to clock around until a new fairly strong northerly arrived on Tuesday. We watched the weather and decided that if we didn’t go Monday morning we would not have another chance until next weekend or after. Some cruisers get locked in for weeks waiting.

0230 on Monday morning we woke to a rain squall and thought our chances not good, it cleared quickly, and after checking four different forcasts, we decided to go for it. We pulled anchor at 0300 and made the 0330 17th Street bridge opening, through the Port Everglades inlet and out to sea. A bit intimadating in the dark. We were out about a hour in uncomfortable seas and Robin got sea sick for the first time in her life. She soldiered on. She was much better by 0830. The trip was rough, the seas were like a washing machine, the boat tossed left, right, up, down. We had survived the huge seas at Cape Lookout and these were not that bad. The wind was out of the Southeast at about 20 knots, it later built to 25.

Dawn broke about about 0630 and your intrepid sailors were marveled by the color of the sea, it just got better and better, from blue green in Florida to the crystal deep blue of the Gulf Stream.

Those of you who know us know Robin tragicly lost her nephew last year. In Seth’s short life he did not have the opportunity to travel very much. His buddies have been leaving bits of Seth’s ashes everywhere they travel. He has now visited Disney World, Ireland, San Francisco, and beyond. Robin had placed a note in a bottle along with some of his ashes for a finder to distribute where they are found. It was fitting she sent Seth on a journey, “Riding the wave where ever it takes him” on the Gulf Stream on what would have been his 21st birthday.

The crossing took a total of 11 1/2 hours. I frequently thought of the Gilligan’s Island song, “the tiny ship was tossed”. At no time did I feel that we were in peril, we wore infatable lifejackets the entire crossing and we were tethered to the boat. Taking pictures was out of the question as it took two hands to hold on, the salt spray would have been unhealthy for the camera. There were a few rain squalls early but most of the day was sunny and warm. The water was beautiful, clear, with lots of flying fish to watch. The water was the dark blue color of fine crystal and as the waves crested the spray glittered. We saw a few passing freighters but for the most part we were alone. It was 68 miles from Fort Lauderdale to here and no sight of land for over 8 hours, it felt only a little scary. It was comforting after 11 hours to see land again and to know the chartplotter was right. Bellatrix is a good boat, a strong boat, and she delivered us safely in the Bahamas.

The only must do is to arrange Bahamian phone service, that may take a few days. The rest is “can’t wait to do”, trolling for dolphin and tuna, bone fishing with a fly rod, snorkeling reefs, spearfishing, exploring little islands, party anchorages with other cruisers, and quiet anchorages all alone. 

These green birds are everywhere

17th Street Drawbridge

Bellatrix at anchor in Lake Sylvia

About 180' of sailing yacht

Indoor Hi and Dry mostly with 30' center consoles with 2-4 outboards each

Ego Alley Lauderdale style

A look at Port Everglades inlet on a test run

Fort Lauderdale view from the inlet

Cruise ships

17th Street draw bridge

Just one of MANY beautiful houses

The Hyatt swimming pool

Fort Lauderdale, FL

13 November 2014

We are still in Fort Lauderdale in an anchorage, Sylvia Lake.

We are waiting for a “weather window” to cross to the Bahamas. We met a guy yesterday who suggested we just do it. The winds have been northerly but not strong. We could try it one morning and turn back if the conditions aren’t right. There may be a window on Monday morning. 

We have been using the dinghy alot exploring this end of Lauderdale. Robin cut my hair for the first time yesterday, not bad. 

We met a couple, Kirsty and Walt who are on a catarmaran with the two daughters 4 and 6. we had conversation with them the other night, they have been to the Bahamas before in a 43’ Beneateau. They have had some pretty interesting adventures. Their intent is to travel down the Keys then to Central America.

The few days before coming to Sylvia Lake, we stayed at Hall of Fame Marina. It is beside the Swimming Hall of Fame facility where Olympic hopefulls, and the local lifeguards train.

We spent some time on the beach, visited local bars, and watched the Ravens on Sunday. An interesting sight on the beach was a guy who wore a thong g-string with just a cup in front who was very comfortable with himself. He even posed for pictures with the tourists. Always interesting sights in South Florida.

Robin saw Sue and Dan on Tranquility this morning, they are heading to Miami. We heard from Charles on Tinker Too, he is in Lake Park, still heading south.

No pictures today, we need to carry the camera more.

Fort Lauderdale, FL

8 November 2014

Well we made Fort Lauderdale. This will be our jumping off point to the Bahamas. We are making final preparations, getting cash, having our mail sent to us, and getting Bella’s health certificate. Those are all supposed to happen on Monday. After that we will be looking for the “weather window”. Because the Gulf Stream flows from south to north it gets unpleasant with any kind of north wind. Ideally you wait till the wind has moved from a southerly direction for 2 days before crossing. When we leave we will leave at around 3 AM that should put us in West End in the early afternoon. We are told you want the sun high so you can read the water depths.

We left Stuart and stayed a night in West Palm Beach in a marina. Skip visited the VA Hospital and got a checkup and flu shot. We went to “Boat Owners Warehouse”, a mega boat stuff store. Those of you with boats might want to check them out on-line, their prices were good and they had the stuff you need, not clothes and cutesy stuff like West Marine.

The next night we anchored out in a very shallow but well protected little nook. It’s amazing that shallow water hardly bothers us anymore just like 65’ bridges. The dreaded no see ums got us again though.

The last 30 miles on the ICW were beautiful. Very expensive houses, huge yachts and lots of bascule bridges. The bridge schedules barely give us enough time to get to the next one without having to idle for 30 minutes. There was a stretch before Lauderdale that we had 7 draw bridges in 14 miles.

The homes here are beautiful, the mega yachts are plentiful. I had no idea there were that many extremely rich people in the country.

There are many pictures today, good internet.

Not a home, just the boat house

A nice house

Clear water

More derelict boats, a real problem in Florida

A private vessel

with it's own sub

Just another pretty house

and another

and another

OK, I don't know either but there where a bunch of these on mooring balls, pontoon boats with tiki huts

A huge catamaran, neat place to store the dink

Mega yacht boatyard

Mega yacht

and another

and another

Me and him waiting for a bridge opening

Very nice hedges

Even the bridges are pretty

There are many canals with beautiful homes

I started to complain about the crab pots being in the channel,  i realized they were coconuts

A stainless steel marlin sculpture 

Another nice guy waving to the passing boats

Peace 

The swimming pool area

Dragon fly

Does the house come with the yacht or vice versa