On our way to the Sea of Abaco

Once we passed the Indian Cay Channel, we stayed at Great Sale Cay for the night. Because of it's location, many boats transition from and to the US east coast will anchor out there. There were a couple of boats around. But nothing like being crowded.

On Wednesday, we sailed to Crab Cay, our next stop for a night. The approach to this secluded anchorage is a bit tricky and the charts don't tell you all about how to get there. Glad we had Bob ahead of us and could slowly sound our way in the anchorage, laying well protected behind a shoal. Again only a few boats stayed there. We took pur dinghy and went to the beach. The water is very clear, calm and about 26°C warm, just a suggested on my doctors prescription ;-)

Although the water looks clear and calm, we always have to be aware of currents. You don't see them necessarily, but they can be very strong. Thus, we are always having a floating cushion on a long floating rope out, when jumping in to the water.

The weather for the passage of the bank is just perfect. A nice breeze and a sunny sky. So we always could have the sails out and do some motorsailing. Our cruising speed is about 6 knots over ground on average.

The next couple of days, the weather forecast isn't so good. We get some strong winds from the north and a high chance for thunderstorms and squalls. So we decided to head for a protected place to stay, unless the weather is more favorable. So our next destination will be White Sound at Green Turtle Cay.

Sailing on the Bahama Banks

The Admiral on the controls

Sunrise over Crab Cay

Through the Indian Cay Channel

Today, we wanted to leave West End at the first light in the morning, making our way to Great Sale Cay. We got ready to go at 7.00 am, but the sun decided not to get up too early. So our departure was postponed by one hour. 

After a horrible manouver from my side, when leaving the  dock, we were on the way to pass Indian Cay passage. A narrow channel, whit a charted water depth of only 1.8 meters. Remember, we draw 1.5 meters… You have to trust and hope, and then you will be fine – and we were fine. But sometimes, we did not know, why we didn’t touch the ground. According to the instrument (which I will calibrate precisely on our next stop), there must have been a number of busy thwarfs, digging constantly underneath our keel!  All went well. It is fascinating, when cruising in waters, only 2 to 3 meters deep.  But we always keep one eye on the depth instrument and the chart plotter, looking out for shoals along our way.

Sailing on the Bahama Banks

The crossing

The night was short! We got up at 3.00 am, having breakfast and getting ready. We wanted to lift anchor at 4.00 am, heading out through the Lake Worth inlet and getting underway. Things get much more difficult and complicated, when it’s dark! All went well and we were on our way toward West End, Bahamas. Yeah baby!!!

Out in the dark

We couldn’t see much on the water, and were glad, Bob was doing a fantastic job, navigating us through some heavy commercial ship traffic including a couple long boat tows on the ocean. Once we were clear, we could turn on our course towards east. At this location, the Gulf Steam is located fairly near to the shore. We noticed quickly, how strong the northward push is. In order to maintain a course over ground of about 100°, we had to steer 130°! Of course this is also slowing down the speed over ground towards our target.

Sunrise over the ocean

 Our buddy boat WindsongII ahead of us

It was a very calm day on the ocean. The waves were 2 to 3 feet, a bit rolly but hey, it’s the Atlantic Ocean and not Lake Zurich! After a while, we unfurled the jib, which gave us some extra speed, while the hard work was done by the iron wind down below, and the auto pilot. It was a perfect weather for our first crossing. After 8 hours, we already could see the first landmarks, belonging to West End. Finally we arrived at 2.15 pm at the Old Bahama Bay Marina in West End. Happy, and tired! Glad we had a reservation at the fully packed marina. They did not accept any boat without a reservation. Lots of sport fishing boats were docked in the packed marina. The immigration was a bunch of paper work and $300.- cash out of the pocket for the cruising and fishing permit for the Bahamas. Other than that, easy as 1, 2, 3.  

Away

The weather looks good and we, toghether with our buddy boat Windsong II from Canada decided, to proceed to  Lake Worth, our jump off point to the Bahamas. The plan was, to leave the boat yard on Monday March 14^th, at 9.00 am and meet up with Windsong II , coming down from Stuart on the St. Lucie river. Then we got a call, telling us, that there is dense fog in Stuart and we need to wait, until things as cleared up. About one hour later, Windsong II could move on and we got ready to go as well. We were ready to leafe, but then it turned out, that is was low tide and the bearth we were in, had a muddy ground and was only about 1.3 meters deep. We draw 1.5 meters! So toghether with some encouraged help from the engine, we finally got out of the mud and reached out for deeper waters.

Once on the St. Lucie river, we meet Bob and Sherry with Windsong II and we started our adventure, heading to Lake Worth. We were glad, we had a rising tide and no issues at Cross Roads, a spot on the ICW, which is prone to shoal. On our way towards south, there wasn’t too much traffic. Clearing  the bridges was easy, with Bob and Sherry in the lead.  It was a nice day to travel on the ICW, looking at the multi million dollar homes along the waterway.

Our anchorage at Lake Worth

Finally we got to the anchorage at Lake Worth around 5.00 pm. We prepared a cold meal, which we could eat whilst on the Altlantic Ocean.

The countdown is on!

After two weeks of lots of boat work and little pleasure, we finally will get ready just in time for the upcoming weather window, to cross the gulf stream. After a very windy week, the forecast for Tuesday still looks very promising. Little wind and small waves for two days. Just right to do our first crossing.

Before we can throw the lines off, we need to complete the provisioning and stowing for the upcoming 6+ weeks. Then we need to go to the Customs and Border Protection Office in Ft. Pierce, to get the documents cleared to leave the country.

Provisioning at the grocery store

On Monday morning, we will leave Stuart and heading for Lake Worth, where we will stay for the night at the anchorage.

The plan is, to leave Lake Worth on Tuesday very early, before the sun is rising. This should allow us enough time to cross.

We are now very excited and are curios, what the Bahamas will be like for us on the boat. One thing is for sure - it will be a big adventure!

Abaco, - see you soon!

Trying to make it happen!

After all, we took 3 month off from work. Really not common, but we work for one of the best companies, and were allowed to stay away from work for an extended period of time. Thank you!!!

When we got here by the end of February, we had a long list of projects, which needed to be completed, before we will feel ready to cross to the Bahamas:
- installing a Martek dinghy davit system
- installing a Xantrex 600W pure sine wave inverter
- installing beefier battery charger cables and new 80Amp fuses
- changing back to the 60Amp battery charger
- installing a tv-set (we know..., but we love to watch a movie from time to time)
- replacing the aft macerator pump
- installing a 285W solar pannel including a MPPT controller

After a week, we have completed many of the projects already. Today we went to Ft. Lauderdale, buying the material for the solar system. Tomorrow, we will try to install the system and see, how it works.

The dinghy davit lift

Before we are ready to cast off, a lot of provisioning will be needed as well. Weatherwise, it seems like we will get a weather window for the crossing on Monday 03/14.

There is another boat, likely to be our buddy boat for the journey to the Abacos. So the remaining days will e busy for us. But hey, we are looking forward to the clear water of the Bahamas, so this should be worth every effort!

Got holidays? - Got projects!

After all, we made it back to Florida for a two weeks holiday. Several projects are due on the list:
- Replacing the divider wall between the freezer and the fridge
- Replacing the water heather
- Installing digital tv-antenna
- Installing a wifi booster (components were bought from Island Time PC)
- Flushing the engine cooling system and fill with new coolant
- Removing the installed generator
- Installing the new Raymarine Ray70 AIS vhf radio
- Replacing the blocks at the mast base

I had to carry lots of material, so my suitcase was full of parts for the projects. In addition, I had a second luggage, with the components for the freezer / fridge sidewall. Already upon arrival in Miami, we had a bad start. For some reason, the self service kiosk could not capture the fingerprints from my dad. So we had to go to the endless line at immigration. We waited 1 1/2 hour. What a pain!  And finally, at the baggage reclaim, I learned, that the extra luggage did not made it on the flight, when we had to commute in Heathrow. They told me, that they will deliver the luggage somewhen the next day.

So we changed plans and started the holidays with a day at the beach. It could have been worse ;-) The day at the beach was just fantastic!

If you are interested in the details of the several projects, go have a look, by clicking here.

After the two weeks, we almost completed all the scheduled work. Only two things could not be finished. The installation of the new radio will need wait until  next time. And the generator is disconnected, all bolts are loose, but the unit is still in the boat. The boat will need to be moved, to gain access with a fork lift truck, to lift the unit up and pull it out.