The Final Leg

Homeward Bound

April 25/08

We had a great sail across the Little Bahama Bank toward the Atlantic Ocean. The winds were perfect and we just chugged along. Several boats left at around the same time, so we were like a flotilla! However, as boats had different destinations, they broke off in other directions and soon it was just Hawkeye and us in radio contact. Another boat, Maj Britt which was being delivered to the States by a crew of Danes, joined our little group of radio contact buddies. It was very reassuring to know that there was someone who knew where we were...

We got out into the ocean, and watched the depth sounder go from 15 ft to blank because it was too deep to register! That was freaky! The water changed colour from the gorgeous aquamarine of the Bahamas to the dark sapphire of the deep ocean. We knew we were truly on our way home now. Bye Bye Bahamas, we sure had a wonderful time there!

Our first night was smooth sailing, we didn't even have the engine running because the winds were so good. We all took turns on watch, going about 4 hours in a stretch, then sleeping for 4 hours. We had 2 people on at a time (me and Clare, Larry and Graham) during the night, although Larry did some time alone (he's braver than me). Watching the sun come up on the ocean is amazing....

The next day, the winds dropped a bit, so we ran the engine along with the sails because we really wanted to maintain a good boat speed to ensure that we had enough time to get north before the weather changed on us! Through the night we were into the gulf stream and we were going a good 10 knots most of the time! Thats rocketing for us! We had lost radio contact with Hawkeye, but were able to talk to Maj Britt, who could hear both of us, so we knew everyone was ok. Another boat, Encore was also talking to us, and they had decided to head for Norfolk too. They were ahead of us and we kept in regular contact with them for the remainder of the trip.

We had a most gorgeous day on the ocean on day 2! We were dragging a fishing line and lo and behold a great big Mahi-Mahi hit it and Graham had a big fight on his hands! It was a beautiful fish - when they are fighting they flash different colours, from yellow, to blue to green! It jumped at least 5 feet in the air in its efforts to escape! Graham got in on board and we measured it to be 52 inches long! A big fish indeed! Now our freezer is full of yummy fish! Not too much longer we had another hit, but this one got away! Then another hit! We pulled in another Mahi, a small one - maybe 20 inches, so we let it go. We had enough food already.

The weather was perfect really, the winds were down, the seas were smooth and the gulf stream was carrying us along at up to 11 knots/hr at times!

Encore called to tell us that they had been joined by a big pod of dolphins which had played in their bow wake for about 15 minutes before they headed off in our direction. Sure enough, they arrived at our boat and entertained us for ages! Beau nearly lost his mind, barking at them and straining at his tether to get closer! They are so beautiful to watch. I feel like they are our guardians, leading us to safe harbours.

Day 3 was more of the same - the winds were light so we had to have the engine running to keep up our boat speed, but it was an easy sail. We were watching the weather closely though because we knew a cold front was coming and we needed to be in before that happened. Then the topping lift from the mailsail got wrapped around the HAM radio antenna which meant that we couldn't transmit on the single side band radio. It also meant that we couldn't send or receive email, including the weather info we rely on.

We had lost contact by then with both Hawkeye and Maj Britt, and assumed they had decided to head to Charleston SC as they were both slower than us and would want to be in a good harbour before the weather turned.

Day 4 was crunch time! We could still use the VHF radio and got weather info from NOAA and Encore, but we had to decide whether we were going to go for Norfolk or pull in at Beaufort. Of course there were pro's and con's for each, but it seemed as though the cold front wasn't going to come through till later than predicted at first, so we decided to get to Norfolk, thus saving us several days on the ICW (yuck) or a long trip on the outside around Cape Hatteras.

The winds continued to be light and variable (meaning that the sails were doing nothing for us) and we were essentially just motoring. At least this meant that the seas were comfortable! We still had a long way to go, and predicted that we would get into Norfolk in the middle of the night, April 29. We rounded Cape Hatteras early in the morning of April 28, and we were down to the last stretch - about 140 miles. By 6:30 that night my cell phone was working again, so I was able to call Mum to let her know we were ok! Of course, no sooner had I done that when the thunderstorms started coming in! Yikes that was scary!

It just poured rain and the lightening was all around us, lighting up the sky. We could watch the storm cells on the radar, and they totally covered us! Larry was able to steer us so that we could get out of the weather sooner, but we were pretty sure there would be more cells to deal with. Fortunately for us, most of the weather stayed further inland from us (you might have seen the tornados that hit Suffolk, creating havok) and we just had to deal with the US warships, freighters etc coming and going from Norfolk!

Encore had made arrangements for both boats to tie up at Bay Point Marina no matter what time we got in, and that was so great to know! They got in a couple hours ahead of us and were there on the dock at 2 am when we finally pulled into the marina! We were back!

Everyone was tired but keyed up, however, before long we were asleep! After much needed showers later in the morning, we met Paul and Nancy from Encore face to face for a big breakfast! They were heading out to get their boat up near Annapolis before flying home to Detroit on Thursday. What an interesting couple! They have cruised around the world and have some great stories to tell. We are hoping to meet up with them in the great lakes some summer!

We headed to Hampton (only 10 miles away) yesterday where we will stay for a day or 2 before heading on to Deltaville, where we may leave the boat for a couple of months while we get the new house sorted out!

It's cold here!! I can't believe we're not in the Bahamas anymore!
It is exciting to be back with so much to look forward to, but brrrr, my blood must have thinned while we were away!

Continuing on...

Cat Island is a good sized island which has the honour of having the highest point in the Bahamas - Mount Alvernia, a whopping 206 feet above sea level! It is home to the Hermitage, the last church built by the beloved Father Jerome, and his final resting place. John Cecil Hawes aka Father Jerome was born in England in 1876 and was first an architect then an Anglican priest. He was sent to help restore the churches which were destroyed by a hurricane in 1908. His trademark was hurricane-proof stonework with thick walls and barrel-vaulted roofs and can be seen in restored churches throughout the Bahamas. He returned to Cat Island in 1937, as a Catholic priest and built the beautiful Hermitage. It is entirely made of stone and only large enough for one person...amazing that anyone could live in such spartan conditions.

We spent a couple lovely nights there at New Bight, and on Easter Sunday we were awakened by a sunrise parade and church service. The sounds of singing, clapping and music were accompanied by the roosters crowing and dogs barking! It was quite an event!

Bad weather forced us to move to a marina called Hawks Nest, on Cat Island and we spent a couple of pleasant days there, sitting in the bar looking out at the big waves! It was pricey though, so we didn't eat at the restuarant, instead we had a dinner party with Night Hawk and Blue (a big catarmaran) which was infinitely more fun!!

After the weather passed, we headed on northbound to Little San Salvador, a small island which has, as its claim to fame, a cruise ship stop! The island is apparently owned by Holland-America and cruise ships regularly stop there for the day at Half Moon Bay so the passengers can swim, tan, go horseback riding on the beach, go parasailing etc etc etc. It was a riot to watch the beach come alive as boatloads of passengers made their way to shore. The dog nearly lost his mind when he saw all the horses! I think he thinks they are big dogs and he wants to play!

As we moved north from Little San Salvadore, we arrived at Eleuthera, a large island at the far eastern part of the Bahamas. It is a lovely and varied island and we spent several days at Rock Sound where we had access to good grocery shopping, a great restaurant (Sammy's Place) and a pavillion where the cruisers could hold a happy hour and socialize. There were probably 20 - 30 boats in the anchorage, as many people were doing the same thing as us, leaving George Town and heading north to the Abacos before ultimately heading home.

From Rock Sound we moved up the island to Governor's Harbour, where Larry and I first cruised about 20 years ago when I learned to sail!!! I have to confess I don't remember a thing about Governors Harbour from that long ago, so it was fun to explore the town a bit. We got water, by hauling it in 6 gallon jerrycans from the town office all the way back to the boat! A huge job, skillfully done by Larry and Graham. (so glad I'm a weakling!)

On to Alabaster Bay, a lovely clean bay where Larry and Graham enjoyed teasing the dog as they dove off the boat time and again! We call Beau our "man overboard alarm" because he barks and barks whenever someone jumps off!

As we moved on up Eleuthera Island, we had to traverse "Current Cut" which is as the name indicates, a small cut between islands which has a very strong current particularly at the peak of ebbing or flodding tide. You have to time your passage properly or you will find yourself going nowhere fast! Or worse, if your boat isn't fast, you could be pushed backwards! We went through as the tide was still ebbing out and were going over 10 knots with the help of the current! Wahoo! Our top speed is usually about 7 knots. Anyway, we made it through no problem, but one of the boats behind us was not so lucky and he went aground as the area around the cut gets quite shallow in places. You really have to watch yourself and the charts! Fortunately, the boat that went aground was able to get off and get through with only a bruised ego.

We stopped for the night at Royal Island, where 20 years ago, on that same cruise and learn trip Larry and I were on, we spent a wild night partying with the other boats in our group and eating fresh lobster and fish given to us by a local fisherman at Spanish Wells (nearby). It is a small anchorage, very protected from the winds. Things have changed there now though, and they are building condos or some such thing and they won't even let you on shore! Not very friendly or welcoming to be sure! We had to sneak the dog ashore for a pee!

Next morning we headed out to cross the ocean and get to the Abacos. Its a trip of about 50 miles and we had good winds, but big ocean swells which made the trip uncomfortable for me. I ended up sleeping quite a bit of the way! There were quite a few other boats making the crossing at the same time and we all kept in radio contact. Susan, on Night Hawk caught a big Mahi Mahi - her first and she was as proud as a peacock! With good reason too - it was a good 3.5 ft long!

Our trip took a bit longer than expected because the ocean swells were breaking across the gaps in the islands at Little Harbour and it wasn't safe to go through them. We had to travel up a bit farther to the northern gap, and there it was not too bad, if a bit scarey. Anyway, we all made it through safe and sound and dropped anchor at Lynyard Cay for the night. Pooped but happy!

We took the next couple days to work our way up to Marsh Harbor, one of the major city's in the Abacos. They have everything you can imagine there - even a "real" grocery store! and most of the pay phones work too! There were big winds coming and the anchorage at Marsh Harbour provides good holding and protection, so it was predictably crowded there!

We finally met up with Jock's Lodge, after not seeing them since around New Year's. It was so great to spend time with Jan and Iain again. Windsong was up in Hope Town, so we would have to wait a few days to see Ted and Alice. In the meantime, we party'ed at the Jib Room with Night Hawk, Sapphire, Restless, Tilt and we danced and watched the limbo guy do his thing! A good time was had by all!

When the winds improved, we all headed to Great Guana Cay where we met up with Windsong and had a fantastic dinner on board our sister Whitby! There were 10 on board, plus the dog, and we still had room to move around!

Next day, the winds were up again, and we had to leave Great Guana Cay as we were being pushed ashore, so we headed back to Marsh Harbor, only about an hours' sail away. We had serious business to attend to while at Marsh Harbour - Clare's latest shipment of course material was fedexed to us there, and we had to work on the financing for the NEW HOUSE IN PENETANG!! yup, the deal is done, and we will be in our new house in June!

Larry and Clare took the opportunity to go scuba diving with a dive boat, and had a good time checking out the coral reefs that are everywhere in the Bahamas. Thankfully, they didn't see any sharks!

We headed back to Great Guana Cay, where it is less crowded and access to the ocean side of the island is easy. The beaches there are absolutely amazing! The surf was still way up from the strong winds, and watching the waves crashing on the shore was something else! I sure wouldn't want to be out in those breakers! The dog had a wonderful time on the beach, cavorting, rolling in the sand (we've nicknamed him Sandy) and chasing birds.

There are a couple of resorts/restaurants on the island, and they welcome cruisers there. Nippers resort and restaurant faces the ocean, and sits high above the beach offering a great view of those crashing waves. It is particularly enjoyable to drink a "Nipper" (rum punch) while doing this! Ask Clare about "FIRE IN THE HOLE!!" Grabbers resort and restaurant is on Fishers Bay,on the other side of the island, which is where we were anchored. Their beach is better for swimming etc, and is where we brought Beau for his walkies. The "Grabber" rum punch was by far superior, in my humble opinion, and thus I had a few! They also had great food, so we had a big dinner with several other boats there on "Italian Night". Their lasagne was amazing!!

We spent 3 nights there at Great Guana Cay while we waited for the right sea conditions to go to Green Turtle Cay, which requires going out the Loggerhead Channel into the Atlantic Ocean, around Whale Cay and back in to the Sea of Abaco through the Whale Cay Channel. While this sounds simple, the rapid shallowing of the ocean from "supa deep" to 20 or 30 ft, combined with reefs make for big breakers and huge waves if the seas are still up. This can be very dangerous, so the prudent sailor waits until the conditions are right before attempting this passage. Thats what we did, and we had a safe passage, along with lots of other cruisers who were waiting for the same thing!

We treated ourselves to a marina, the Green Turtle Club, so that we could get fuel and water in preparation for our trip back to the States. Our trip was drawing to a close. As always we met some new cruisers and enjoyed getting to know them. We had a good meal in the restaurant, spend an afternoon sunbathing by the pool (where Beau jumped ship and found us, so we made him go for a swim to get the salt water off him!), did laundry and used the internet as much as possible! We have really been surprised at the difficulty we've had in getting decent signal here.

Jocks Lodge, Windsong and Night Hawk arrived a couple days after us and we all got together as much as possible as we knew we would be saying goodbye soon. We rented golf carts and went to the little town of New Plymouth to explore and buy a few groceries (stock up on cheap rum!). Graham got to drive the golf cart a bit, which was the highlight of his day! He's a good driver! Clare, who will be 16 in a few days could not be enticed to try it out! Young Drivers of Canada will be waiting for her in the next while!

Of course we had happy hour on the boat with the gang on our last night together. It was bittersweet since we were not heading to the same destination in the States. Windsong presented me with the "Bubba" award for putting up with Larry and the kids for a year! A nice big bottle of "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" rum!! I will think of them often! I love those guys!

Next morning we headed off to Allans Pensacola Cay with Hawkeye, who was planning to make the crossing at least to Beaufort with us. We had a great sail and made good time. It is an uninhabited island and offers pretty good protection from most winds. We had a good night there and were up in good time the next morning to make the trip to Great Sale Cay, about 35 miles away. We had another good sail, with a bunch of boats with the same plan, and arrived in the afternoon. When we arrived, there were only a couple of boats in the anchorage, but by sundown, there were about 20 boats, all getting ready to make the crossing to the States, albeit to different parts.

We had been chatting with various boats to see if there were any who were planning to go as far north as Norfolk, which was Larry's hope. He felt that we could take advantage of the gulf stream to get us as far north as possible to avoid the Intracoastal Waterway and make the trip shorter. Hawkeye and several others were looking at Charleston SC or Beaufort NC, which meant that we would be on the same course for awhile. The weather window was right, and so early in the morning on April 25 we set sail for the USA!

We're still here! (not dead yet!!)

April 20/08

Again apologies are due for not updating the blog before now, but you'll have to take my word for it that internet access has been scarce and unreliable since we've been in the Bahamas. Honestly, it has nothing to do with gorgeous weather, sandy beaches, rum punch, good sailing, new friends, amazing snorkeling, fishing, more rum punch on the beach, my fantastic suntan...

But really, internet is bad,(or expensive and still bad) and that is the main reason for not updating the blog sooner.

So, we have seen and done so much in the past 2 months this could be a long one, so grab a coffee and a snack and hunker down!

When I last wrote, we were on our way to Sampson Cay (pronounced key) for some marina life pampering (that was back on Feb 19!) What a ball we had there! Sampson Cay is really just a resort and marina, so there is no town to explore, but it is a pretty little island, as they all are in the Exumas I think.

Gerry is the best darned bartender in the Bahamas in my humble opinion! The little resort bar was humming with cruisers and resort goers and it was like a never-ending party for 2 days! He introduced us to "Bahamian Root Beer" and other shooters as well as various rum punches and Kalik beer. He also beat us soundly at dominoes time after time!

One night we met a family who had chartered a huge, 147 ft cruising yacht, and wouldn't you know it - they were from Toronto and have a cottage up in Muskoka right near Port Sandfield!! What a small world! They took Graham and I on a tour of the yacht (you really should call something that size a ship!) It was predictably gorgeous, complete with a hot tub, TV's in every room, formal dining room with table and chairs - you name it! It was like a floating house! Very nice, but I wouldn't want to be out in rolly water in it - nothing to hang on to!!

Clare made friends with another family on another big cruiser (this one was probably only 60 ft!) but they had teenagers to hang with. They all had some fun snorkeling and goofing around, listening to music at the bar and playing cards. She still keeps in touch with them via "face book" etc. Larry and Graham took out a little Hobie Cat for a spin and now Graham is hooked! He's looking to get one when we get home!

The local fishermen bring their catch to the docks to clean - lobster (aka crayfish or bugs), conch, grouper etc, and they chuck the scraps into the water... and the nurse sharks, rays and lemon sharks are there to clean it all up! I was amazed to see the number of sharks, patrolling the docks and looking creepy! Needless to say, I didn't go anywhere near the water! But man! we had an awesome dinner of "surf and turf" one night! YUMMMM.

We bid a fond farewell to Sampson Cay and headed on down the road to a small settlement called Black Point. This is a pretty good anchorage (though subject to swells if the wind is wrong) but the town itself is just amazing. Very friendly people (which is the norm in the small settlements), great laundry facilities (always important), fantastic bakery (Lorraine's breads are sooooo good! - especially her raisin bread and coconut bread!) And of course there was the local bar, Scorpios! There are a couple of missionaries who encourage the visiting cruisers to help out at the local school as afterschool tutors. Sadly for us, when we got there, the kids had a holiday, then it was the weekend, so we didn't get the chance to meet them. We enjoyed our couple of days there immensely, and would love to return. As always, there were lots of cruisers in the anchorage, some new faces to us, and some we'd met along the way. It is quite a community, the cruising one.

Our destination was George Town, close to the bottom of the Exuma chain. For some, it is like Mecca, and for us, it held the promise of teenagers for the kids to hang around with!! We made the long passage from Black Point to George Town without incident, but also without wind! We had to motor the whole way! However, since we were in Exuma Sound (the deep ocean side) I wasn't complaining - no wind usually means no big waves! The entry to George Town can be tricky due to many reefs and shoals, so it is necessary to enter only in good weather. We made it just fine - Larry the navigator always does an excellent job!

We were greeted in George Town by about 250 other boats! Now, the harbour in George Town is quite big, and there are several places to anchor, so there really is room for all those boats. I wouldn't want to go swimming there though (people direct discharge their heads as there are no pumpout facilities anywhere in the Bahamas)

Some people come and spend the entire winter in George Town, and as a result, they are pretty organized down there. Every morning there was the "cruisers net" on the vhf radio, which gave a weather report and local news/info on the days' activities as well as cruiser questions/comments etc. It was a good way to keep informed.

We anchored first at "Hamburger Beach" ('cause there is usually a hamburger stand there) aka Monument Beach, but quickly moved along to "Volleyball Beach" where, suprise! there are beach volleyball courts and they play every day! There is also the "Chat and Chill" bar and restaurant where patrons gathered daily to be abused by Arlene (you have to meet her to understand this) and drink Kalik beer or rum punch on the beach. Volleyball Beach is where it all happens in George Town! They have the aforementioned volleyball (and these people are serious!), dominoes, bridge, basket weaving, church services and of course, drinking, all day every day! It is really the gathering spot, and therefore always busy.

For the past 28 years, George Town has been home to the George Town Cruisers Regatta, a week of fun and games..."winter-summer camp for adults!" We arrived about a week before the regatta, so there were lots of activities in preparation for it. We took part in some things, like oldies dances, learned a bit of basket weaving, and practiced the fine art of sitting on the beach with beer in hand.

Clare and Graham were able to meet up with some old friends and make some new ones too, but we were surprised at how few teenagers there were in George Town, as so many people had promised us reams of them! Alas, Clare pointed out that George Town was full of "old people" as is the rest of the Bahamas and Florida! Of course that term applies to anyone over 20 I think!

Clare and I had to fly home on March 3 for her to (eventually) write her first 4 exams for ILC and she also had to spend "March break" with her buds and I had to go to St. Anne's Spa with Mum, Trish and Pam to celebrate Mum's 90th birthday! Way to go MUM!!

Sadly, I was sick with a viscious cold for almost the whole time I was back, so I kind of hid out at my wonderful friend Leslie's for much of the time. Luckily for me, her Mom was away on a trip which allowed me to take over her apt in the basement of Leslie's place. That way I didn't have to give that bunch of Kings and Wilsons my cold! Unfortunately, it meant that I didn't get to see the friends I'd hoped to. I did manage to do some house hunting while I was back and happened to find a place I liked, and we are in the process of buying it!! Wahoo! we'll have a place to live when we get back. I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from various friends and family who are now off the hook!!!

While we were away, Larry and Graham held down the fort in George Town. We had met up with friends Barry and Susan from Night Hawk when they returned from the Dominican Republic, so the boys were not lonely! They dressed Beau up in a tux, complete with martini glass and top hat, for the Pet Parade in the regatta, and he won best in his category!! (The category might have been dog with the worst hair cut, I'm not sure!!!) Anyway, it was reported to be a blast, and we owe it all to Susan for her creative use of bibs and toilet rolls! Hopefully pics will follow!

Star Shadow and Night Hawk, looking for a break from the hustle and bustle of GT headed out to the top of Great Exuma Island, to Rat Cay to do some fishing and snorkeling. Wish I could have been there because they had great success at finding and spearing lobster as well as several other types of fish. When Clare and I arrived back, there were 5 big lobster tails plus a pile of fish in the freezer! The most exciting part was when Graham caught a needle fish, parts of which they later used to "chum" the water, and a big reef shark took the bait and took off with it! Naturally, it broke the line, but not before they managed to get a good look at it. Then, Graham teased the shark by dragging the bait just out of it's reach and they got some great pics of it! It just kept on coming back! Graham sent me some great emails about it - he was so excited by those fishing and snorkeling experiences.

Once Clare and I got back to the boat (March 19), we made tracks out of George Town (a nice place to visit, but not for long!) and headed across the Exuma Sound to Cat Island. we had several boats travelling with us, which is always fun. It was a great day for sailing and we were just rocketing along. Suddenly, the deep sea fishing rod jumped and we had a hit! Larry took the reel and I had the helm, trying to sail but having to help play the fish! It took a while, but we had caught a nice big Mahi Mahi or Dorado. What a beautiful coloured fish! It was about 3 feet long, probably about 20 lbs (Clare has the pics on her camera) and it was the most amazing colours of blue and green. It was a bit of work to get it on board, but Graham gaffed it (the big hook on a stick) and then Larry had to clean and fillet it so we could get it in the fridge! We told the rest of the boats that the fish dinner would be on Star Shadow that night! Then, to our surprise and delight we got another hit not long after! This time Graham took the rod and had the honour of bringing in dinner! We were thinking it might be a barracuda because the water was shallower as we neared Cat Island, but it was a Mutton Snapper, which is another good eating fish! What a day! This one was close to 3 ft in lenth and another 15 - 20 lbs! It really made Graham's day! This was the biggest fish he'd caught yet. We did have a great feast on board that night with the crews of Night Hawk, Sapphire and Star Shadow!

We were anchored at New Bight on Cat Island and there must have been about 10 boats there by nightfall (everyone was getting out of George Town!).

SEE OUR POSITION ON SATELLITE!

OK, this is cool, you can go to shiptrak.org online, then type in our SSB call sign, which is va3shd and click view and you will see where we are and also where we have been! Give it a try! More later.

WOW! we're in the Bahamas at last!

Feb 18/08

Well, it's been ages since I've added to the blog - my apologies, but we haven't had internet much since Graham and I returned to the boat on Jan 28.

Graham's ear surgery went well and the nasty polyp thing appears to be gone for good (lets hope so!) We had fun visiting friends and family, but the snow I could have done without! It seemed like it snowed every day, especially when we had a big drive to make...and there were plenty of those days! And of course, we have been following the weather "back home" and know that Ontario has been having one heck of a winter. Sorry about your luck! (oh, that was cruel!)

Anyway, Graham and I had a reasonable flight back to Fort Lauderdale (only one crying kid to contend with) and we arrived in the early evening. It was so nice to be back in the warm weather! We spent the next day doing fun stuff like laundry, grocery shopping and last minute provisioning as we planned to make our crossing to the Bahamas on Jan 30.

We set out as planned on Jan 30, leaving Port Everglades (where the huge cruise ships depart from) and heading to Cat Cay/Gun Cay in the Bahamas. This entails crossing the gulf stream, which can be a harrowing experience...but luckiy for us, it was a good crossing. We had to motor sail the whole way, but we are getting used to this concept of the wind always being on the nose! The trip took about 9 or 10 hours, and we arrived at Cat Cay and Gun Cay just as the sun was setting. We had to cruise around a bit to decide where we were going to anchor for the night. We ended up on the east side of Gun Cay and anchored with a couple other boats. It was a bit of a rolly night, but we managed! The next day, we walked around the island and decided that it might be calmer on the west side. So we moved the boat around and got anchored. Unfortunately, there was a nasty swell coming from the south which caused the boat to rock from side to side, quite annoyingly!! Larry made a "bridle" to get the boat to head into the swell, but it did not really help. So at about 2 am we found ourselves having to make a decision...do we move or do we stay? We opted to move, and weighed anchor. Of course, these middle of the night adventures always have to have some system failure, and this time was no exception...the anchor windlas (the thing that pulls the anchor up) malfunctioned, and we had a heck of a time getting the anchor up. Once done, we headed out into the swells and it was immediately more comfortable. We considered just staying off the shore until daylight, but then decided to see what the water was like through the cut between the islands. To our surprise, it was quite calm and we proceeded to begin crossing the Great Bahama Bank to the Berry Islands, where we would "check in" with customs. It was a lovely trip - flat calm. We watched the sun come up on a gorgeous Bahama day. The water is quite shallow and we could see the bottom...lobster traps, sharks (little ones), starfish and other creatures entertained us throughout the day. We had a hit on the deep sea fishing rod and caught a barracuda - fierce-looking! - which we threw back!

We were headed to Chub Cay and we had to go into the "tongue of the ocean", where the water gets DEEP again. So of course it was time for another problem! This time it was the fuel filter clogging and it had to be changed underway. Once solved, we headed into the marina at Chub Cay. It is a gorgeous marina, and it should be because it costs $2.80/ft of boat length! Plus extra for electricity and water! Ah well, it was a lovely spot, with a swimming pool, beach, little shop, laundry and showers. We got checked in with customs with no trouble and then had to decide where to go from there.

We decided to head to nearby Frazers Hog Cay, as some folks we met at the marina told us it was a very nice, peaceful and secure anchorage. We caught another barracuda on our way (which we again let go) and got safely anchored up at the top part of Frazers Hog Cay. We were there for about 4 or 5 days as the winds were strong and the passage to Nassua (our next stop) would be nasty. We were basically on our own, as there were only a couple other boats, and none were nearby. The water was rather rough for pleasure dingying so we pretty much stayed on board except to take Beau ashore. Larry and Graham did some snorkeling and fishing, and we had our first taste of Bahamas fish for dinner. We had 2 or 3 ramora camped out under our boat eating scraps we tossed overboard. They must have thought we were some BIG shark! Larry used our time there to fix our fuel polishing problem, so hopefully we won't have further issues with clogged filters at inconvenient times!

We headed for Nassau Feb 7 and arrived without incident. We decided to stay at a marina since we needed water and provisions. We spent 2 nights there and had a great visit with "Werplayin" who we met first in St. Augustine. They were in Nassau waiting for family to visit, and were going to the big, snazzy resort "Atlantis" for several days. We promised the kids we would stop there on our way north, as there is a huge water park and aquarium there that is supposed to be awesome! Something for all of us to look forward to later this spring. In the meantime, the boat got washed (much needed) and Beau got a bath (REALLY needed!) and the water tanks got filled.

It was funny to see all these American stores in Nassau - Starbucks, KFC, Dairy Queen, Subway etc. They drive on the opposite side of the road in Nassau, and you took your life in your hands to cross the road! People drive fast and the roads are busy! There didn't appear to be any traffic lights or stop signs, so you just walk out into the road and hope the cars will slow down for you!!! We walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner on our first night, and Larry walked downtown to find some parts, but otherwise we stuck faily close to the marina. We didn't get to the Rum Factory (much to Clare's disappointment! - maybe on the trip north...) There were lots of boats we had come across so far in our travels, so we got to catch up with some, and also to meet some new cruisers. I sure needed that!

From Nassau we headed towards the Exuma chain of islands and went to Allan's Cay, where wild iguanas fill the beaches and wait for handouts of grapes or apples! It was a lovely little group of islands and Clare kayaked through the anchorage, spotting rays and other fish. Larry and I circled one of the little islands by dingy in the morning and climbed to the top of the island with the dog to check out the view. Awesome white sand beaches, palm trees, aquamarine water - truly paradise!

From Allan's Cay we went to Norman's Cay for a couple of days, and enjoyed a rather expensive, but tasty, lunch at the Normans Cay Beach Club (aka MacDuffs). The atmosphere there was so friendly, with a screened in dining area and open air veranda, I could have spent forever just hanging out on the veranda. Norman's Cay was notorious as the lair of Columbian drug runners some many years ago, and there is the wreck of a downed plane in the south end of the island. Nowadays, it is lovely and safe and has an awesome beach to stroll along.

We then made our way down to Shroud Cay where we dingyed down a river through the mangroves and to the fantastic beach on the Exuma Sound side where we snorkeled, swam, built sandcastles and had a picnic lunch. It was amazing there!

Shroud Cay is in the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a wildlife/nature reserve where there is no fishing allowed, so the fish and lobsters etc all snub their noses and blow raspberries at the snorkelers! From there we proceeded south to Warderick Wells, still in the park and surrounded by reefs and coral heads to explore. We have been here for 3 days and are loving it. Saturday evening the park hosts a Happy Hour on the beach, where people bring an appetizer to share and their beverage of choice, and they have a bonfire on the beach. It was great fun, and we met some great folks!

Today we piled into the dingy and went to a nearby reef to snorkel (I stayed in the dingy to rescue anyone swept away by the current!) The others said the coral was amazing and there were lots of fish - BIG Nassau Grouper - to goggle at. There is the wreck of a boat just close to where we are moored and Graham had a look at it today and said it was really cool. After lunch we went ashore to hike on some of the trails that crisscross the island. We had spectacular views of the island, the anchorages and the ocean! We climbed to the top of Boo Boo Hill so named because of it's reputation of being haunted, then headed to the Blow Holes to experience the amazing gusting wind and water being plunged up through holes in the limestone from the ocean hundreds of feet below! It makes the most freaky sound - if you happened upon them in the night I'm sure they would scare the devil out of you! After the Blow Holes, we proceeded to Boo Boo Beach in search of Clare, who had wandered off on her own... We didn't find her, so thought she'd gone back to the beach and the dingy. However, when we got there, no Clare! It was getting late in the afternoon, the sun was starting to go down and it would be dark in another hour and a half...We headed back to the boat, thinking that perhaps she had borrowed one of the sea kayaks and gone back ahead of us...but no, when we got there, the only one to greet us was the dog! I was just radioing the Park Headquarters to be on the lookout for a tired 15 yr old, when we spotted her at the top of Boo Boo Hill. She made her way down to the shore and Larry picked her up in the dingy. She had gone further past Boo Boo Beach to explore the Pirates Lair (she didn't get there sadly) and she stubbed her toe quite severely along the way! We spent the next hour or so performing first aid on the damaged digit, and the patient should make a full recovery!

Well tomorrow, we head on south to Sampson Cay for a night or 2 of pampered marina life! Wahoo - electricity, showers, shopping....can't wait!

Will continue to try to post pics, but don't hold your breath!

What's all this white stuff??

It sure ain't sand! Graham and I are back in Canada for a couple of weeks to deal with some minor medical problems. We arrived back in on Jan 11 and were greeted by drizzle and not too much snow (after the huge downfalls Ontario had received earlier in the winter). However, as if to make us appreciate how lucky we are to be in the sunny south, the snow came back and forced me to drive in nasty winter conditions! I hate this at the best of times, but not having been behind the wheel for 6 months made it especially hard to drive in this weather! Graham was my safety monitor, always telling me to go slow!

Maybe I will be able to convince Larry or Clare to write about being on their own for 2 weeks....it sounds like they have been having fun without us! They went to the Oceanographic Institute near Stuart to see the stingray exhibit, where they got to touch them (Clare says they feel like jello) and they also went to Jensen beach, which was reported really nice too. Larry reported to me today that a cold front hit them a couple of days ago, and it has been cold and very windy. (i feel so sorry for them, don't you??) I'm freezing!

Larry's son Shaun is in Orlando for business, so he is driving to Stuart for a visit with Larry and Clare today! Graham sure is disappointed he is going to miss him! Can't wait to hear the stories from Larry and Clare.

The plan at this point is for Larry and Clare to move the boat down the ICW to Lake Worth later this week or on the weekend (depending on the weather), and possibly on to Fort Lauderdale or Miami, again, depending on the weather and the situation with me and Graham. Graham is quite happily shovelling snow at our friends' place as I write - he says he misses snow...

Time to head out for doctors' appointments!

By the way, I've been having trouble uploading pictures for about a month, which is why there haven't been new ones, but as soon as I can, I will post lots of new ones for everyone!

New Year's at Stuart, Fla

We bid farewell and have fun to Clare on the 28th of Dec and took an extra day to do laundry and errands before leaving Vero Beach. You could hear the velcro ripping! It was hard to leave - except for the "no-see-ems" which were awful! Also, the Red Tide was still in evidence to a lesser degree, so we never went to the lovely nearby beach. (we did pass it on the bus, so I know it is lovely...)

Our journey on the 29th was a short one, just to Fort Pierce, about 20 miles away. Here we had to decide whether to go out the Fort Pierce Inlet into the Atlantic again and go to Lake Worth, or to stay on the ICW. Shortly after we anchored, we were hailed on the VHF radio - a surprise, since we did not recognize any of the boats in the anchorage. To our delight, it was "on Overdraught" who'd had to be hauled out for major rudder problems (it fell apart...bad news). Stuart and Heather could see our boat from their spot in the boatyard! We went ashore for a real restaurant dinner and got caught up with them. Unfortunately for them, the boat manufacturer was closed for Christmas holidays until Jan 7, so nothing was going to happen for them before that. Sometimes you just have to accept that stuff happens, and deal with it. They were philosophical about it, and I know will make the best of a bad situation. Hope to see them down the road before too long!

We also got a phone call from Jan and Iain on Jocks Lodge that they were in Stuart which seemed a good spot to stay awhile - convenient, cheap being important factors! Graham and I are going to make a trip back to Canada for medical stuff, and Larry and Clare may be on their own for a couple of weeks. We decided to head down the ICW toward Stuart.

We had heard about a nice anchorage at Peck Lake, which was just south of the Port St. Lucie Inlet (where Stuart is) so we decided to take a detour and check it out. It isn't really a lake, more of a bay off the Indian River, which is part of the ICW. It is a lovely, popular day anchorage for locals since it is not far from St. Lucie and Stuart. The lake side is nice, if crowded with mangroves, and it is just a short walk across the sand dunes to the ocean. It was gorgeous there that day - windy with great breakers for Graham and Larry to play in! We had brought the dog, but were told he wasn't allowed on the beach, so I decided to stay with him on the boat. After their swim, the boys explored the beach a bit before heading back to Star Shadow. As dusk approached and the dog was taken ashore for a last pee break for the day, the bugs swarmed Larry and Graham (the wind had dropped) and they couldn't get back to the boat fast enough! We spent a lovely peaceful night in the ancorage, most of the motorboats long gone.

The morning dawned clear and warm with a light breeze. Absolutely heavenly. We spent a lazy morning on the bow, reading (me) and the guys fishing. (I forgot to write about our good deed in Vero Beach....a couple of guys in a small fishing boat had run out of gas and Larry and I towed them in our dingy to the marina dock to get gas. They'd been fishing and caught a big Grouper which they showed us. We admired it, and then went on our way. A little while later, the two locals came up to our boat and said they wanted to thank us for helping them by sharing their catch! They cut a huge fillet off the Grouper (which was about 15 lbs) and gave it to us! What a feast we had for dinner that night. Fresh Grouper - yum! There was too much for 4 to eat - that's how big it was!)

Anyway, we enjoyed our morning, no luck with catching fish, before deciding to head out for Stuart. It was Dec 31 - New Years Eve. Not enough wind to sail, we were motoring up the river and the engine started to overheat a bit. Larry checked the raw water intake and found a big mangrove seed stuck in it!! We just putted along until we were in an area we could shut the engine down to clear it. Sheesh! Arrived safely in Stuart in the afternoon and anchored near Jocks Lodge, a bit of a dingy ride from the marina and the mooring balls (our name was on the waiting list for a mooring ball).

Being New Year's Eve, there was a Happy Hour gathering planned for 5 pm. Bring your own beverage and an appetizer to share (a pretty standard practice for cruisers). We had a great time meeting some new folks and visiting with old friends! There were a couple of young men from Sweden, who were sailing a small (27 foot Sherwin Vega). The younger of these brothers, 19 is planning to sail single handedly back to Sweden from the Bahamas! His 20 year old brother had flown here to go to the Bahamas with his brother. I thought it was too bad that Clare wasn't here to meet them, but on second thought, decided it might be just as well - cute young Swedes that they were!

Cruisers midnight comes about 8:30 pm (a big joke around here) so we toasted the new year (Scottish time) around then, and headed back to the boat and bed! Graham - much more of a trooper than Larry and I, woke me up just before midnight so I could join him on the bow to watch an amazing fireworks display! All up and down the shore fireworks were going off - we were surrounded! Poor Beau was scared by the noise - the sucky boy!

A cold and very windy front moved into the area after new years, and we spent a couple of days hunkered down in the boat, trying to keep warm! The wind was howling all night long, making the "snubber" creak and groan under the load. (the snubber takes the strain off the anchor chain where it goes into the windlass, its a safety thing). It was a wakeful night the first night, until we were pretty sure none of the boats anchored near us were not going to drag! We never budged!

We rented a car to go to Fort Lauderdale to pick Clare up on Jan 4. We were still experiencing rain and wind and cool-cold weather. Clare arrived just fine, after an uneventful flight - and a great week "back home". Our heartfelt thanks to Kelly's parents for putting her up, and putting up with her! She had a wonderful time.

We decided to take the scenic route (highway A1A) back to Stuart. The sun broke out and the road meanders through all the beaches along the coast of Florida. We stopped at Deerfield Beach because it was so pretty and enticing! There were people exercising on the beach, surfers, kite surfers and loads of people just playing in the water. No Red Tide! We started to stroll along (dog in tow, of course) when we were told that NO DOGS were allowed, even on the sidewalk on the east side of the road! Sheesh! So Larry, Clare and Graham had a walk on the beach, while Beau and I walked on the other side of the street! Needless to say, we didn't stay that long, but it sure was a lovely beach.

The rest of the trip home was uneventful, if rainy and we had to wait out squalls before heading back to the boat. We finally got a mooring ball on Saturday (Jan 5) which means that we are closer to the marina and showers and decent internet! Hoohaa! Here we sit this morning, the weather is a bit warmer, but still with the threat of rain, as we sip our morning coffee and contemplate the days agenda. Laundry, showers, walk to town. Bed.!!