Long time no post

It's been a while, since our last post here. Once we got back to Stuart, we started to unload the boat. It's unbelievable, how much stuff we carried around. At least 3 full SUV loads were carried home, and the boat didn't look empty at all!

There is much to do, before a boat is ready for storage on the dry: toping up all tanks with water and fuel, emptying the waste tanks, removing all things, that could rotten during the storage, removing the sails, the soil cover, some lines, removing some electronic equipment, cleaning all parts from the salt, that has built up from the spray of the ocean, washing and deflating the dingy, flushing the engine, the AC-unit and the cold machine with special fluids to prevent them from corrosion, changing motor and gear oils, etc. Some of these tasks are tough jobs. Removing the sails can be hard work - I would estimate the weight of the sail clothes only at slightly more than 100 kilograms.

Last week, we gave Tranquilizer a special treatment - we waxed and polished the hull. In addition, the bottom got painted. Take a glance at her fantastic look!

When cleaning uno after a cruise, you will always discover some minor parts, that needs to be replaced mostly as a precautionary maintenance. Many things, such as an oil change, do sound to be an easy job. But on a bot, there are different routes in place... There is no way, on how you could bring an oil pan underneath the engine, to drain the used oil in to. There is very limited accessibility to every thing, especially for a guy like me! So everything takes considerably longer, than you would expect it from the experiences you might gained, while working on a car or motorcycle. But if you have done it once, you know the tricks and what tools become handy for some jobs.

But we wanted to spend all our remaining time in the boat yard. When ever we worked on the boat in the morning, we headed for the beach in the afternoon. The weather is just gorgeous. On some days, I went to the boat yard early. Beatrice followed later with the car. I took the Harley for the ride to the boat. It's always just pure joy, to ride the harley on the wide roads, hemmed with various palm trees.

Returning to Stuart

After a very restful night, we lifted anchor at 9.00 am and headed north on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).

Windsong II in the morning at Lake With anchorage

We were lucky, that there was little traffic on the water and we could time our ways up, through the 6 bascule bridges just perfect, we never missed an opening. about an hour, before we got back to Stuart, we had a fantastic dolphin encounter at Peck Lake. The dolphins played in the bow wave of the boat, whent forth and back for quite a while. I slowed down and was scared, that they could be caught in the propeller. Due to the current in the narrow channel, it is not a smart thing, to bring the engine to a full stop... But these animals seemed to have experiences with boats and all went just fine. Once they were done with our boat, the whole dolphin family awaited the next boat coming along their way - Windsong II - to play some more.

We made it back to Stuart, docked the boat and started unloading all the stuff, we carried with us on the boat. This certainly will be an ongoing task for the next coulee days.

Crossing back to Florida

We lifted anchor at 4.00 am and sounded our way through the reef out on the open ocean. The night was not very restful. The short interval of the waves did not allow for a good sleep. It was role and bumpy. In addition there were a lot of questions in regards of the upcoming crossing. The weather forecast was ok, but we knew, we would not have a smooth crossing, like when we came to the Bahamas.

We got up at 3.00 am, having a short breakfast and getting ready for the day. Turning the navigation lights on, removing the additional lanterns, we have set out, to make sure, any fisher boat could see us out on the plain water. Of course we had to put on the life vests, safety harness etc.. Finally I did check the way points again, which I have dialed in in to the navigation instruments. Agreed, it would be very hard to miss the US coast, when crossing from the Bahamas, but we did not plan for a visit at Cape Canaveral or New York...

Heading for the bow to lift the anchor was some sort of work out. The waves caused quite a bit of movement on deck. So I had to make sure, I always could get a good grip at a line, a handle or the life lines, which run from the cockpit all the way to the bow.

One we headed for the ocean, it became clear, that the waves are higher than forecasted and the wind less, than it should be. Both worked against us. The waves were about 5 feet high and it was a kind of a cross seas. The wind could help stabilize the boat, as soon as the sails are up, but it was not enough wind to really help stabilizing the boat.

So we were looking forward to a bumpy ride over the Gulf stream. Although the autopilot provides a great support, you need to be at the helm a all times. There is a lot of commercial ship traffic in the Straits of Florida and you need to pay attention to the seas and the sails. Standing at helm for 10 hours, constant movements of the boat, after a night with little sleep, can be somewhat exhausting.

The "Gugelhopf" was just fantastic!

Just about two hours, before we reached the Lake Worth Inlet, the shackle witch connects the lower end of the jib to the roller furling system became lose and the bolt fell over board. The jib started to tear. I had to respond immediately. You certainly won't have an uncontrollable flying jib, approaching a very busy inlet! I ran down to the cabin, cut a piece of rope, made my way to the bow again (which was not an easy task at sea...), and latched the jib down to fuller again. Then I made my way back to the cockpit, furling the jib, to avoid any serious damage to the sail.

Land in sight - Florida, we're coming

Finally, after just 10 hours, we reached our anchorage at Lake Worth. We called the Customs and Border Protection Office, to prepare for immigration and customs for our selfs and the vessel. We lowered the dinghy, took Bob and Sherry aboard and headed for the immigration office at Lake Worth. The process can be easy or difficult, depending on how and where the boat is documented or registered. We had a very fast and easy process, while Windsong, as a Canada documented vessel hat to apply for a cruising permit. Finally we all got our paper work done and went back to our boats, laying down for a good sleep.


Especially Bob deserved it, his autopilot failed the day before the crossing. He had to hand steer during the whole passage and did a fantastic job!

The anchorage at Lake Worth, jump off point for many cruisers

In the middle of nowhere

We planned our last anchorage in the Bahamas on the Bank, in the middle of nowhere. All around us, just water and the horizon. Only 2 miles west, there is the drop off, where the Bahmas Bank becomes the Atlantic Ocean. Within a few hundred Meters, the water depth changes from 3 Meters to over 800 meters. the color of the water changes from turquoise green in to a very deep blue.

So there we were. No protection at all. Very little information about this place was to be found. But it offered a perfect place to get a very early start in the morning, and heading out on the ocean.

Windsong II anchored out on the Bahamas Bank

Reflecting the past couple weeks

Our last sunset in the Bahamas - it's truly better in the Bahamas ...

Mangrove Cay

The wind slowed down a little bis, and we left Great Sale Cay, heading towards Mangrove Cay. None of us has ever been there, and we did not really know, what will await us there. Beside of the wind protection, the holding of the anchor, current etc. are very important factors, making an anchorage a pleasant stay, or a horrible stop, with little rest.

Wen we got to Mangrove Cay, it was still a little breezy and the wind direction was not favorable for this anchorage either. We decided to stay, and see, how things are developing. At least, the holding seemed to be really good. The wind should shift overnights, to an even more unfavorable direction, leaving us totally unprotected. Luckily, at about 5 pm, the wind calmed down a lot and we had a wonderful and restful night at Mangrove Cay.

Beatrice baked a "Gugelhopf", a sweet treat, which will help us out on our crossing.

The sunset at Mangrove Cay was fantastic. Look at the heart shaped cloud, wishing us a good crossing and a coming back soon!

Sunrise the other morning

 
The next morning, we were listening to the weather forecast on Single Side Band Radio (SSB) again. Monday seemed still to be the day for our crossing.

Back to Great Sale Cay

Today, wed about 40 nautical miles to go. So we left Crab Cay early in the morning. It was a nice sailing - at first. Then the forecast 10 to 14 knots of wind soon became history. The wind picked up and we were sailing in 20 to 25 knots of wind. This wind helped us to cover the distance rather quick. But it was not what we wanted for the night. The wind direction was unfavorable for the anchorage at Great Sale Cay, the only anchorage in that area.

Like every day, I had the cuban line out, not expecting to catch a fish on our last couple miles in the Bahamas. But right at the Northern tip of Great Sale Cay, a Cero Mackerel hit the lure, and i managed to reel it in. This fish was about twice the size of the Mackerels, we caught the other day. I just managed to reel the fish in and send him off to heaven, before I had to furl the sails and getting ready to set anchor.

A beautiful and fantastic tasting Cero Mackerel

After cleaning the fish, Sherry and Bob rowed over in their dinghy. We had to discuss the weather and  our next moves. Of course it made good time to prepare the fish and serve another fresh fish snack.

We decided, to stay another day at Crab Cay, then to proceed to Mangrove Cay. The weather changed once more and a crossing on the Saturday was not recommended because of a front of thunderstorms and squalls. Sunday should bring wind from the north over the Gulf Stream, which would make for a very unpleasant crossing. So the crossing was postponed until Monday.

The two nights at Great Sale were a bit rolly and bumpy. Many cruisers anchored at Great Sale Cay and there was a vivid discussion on the radio, what the weather will be, when to cross, etc. Some fast moving boats can work with much shorter weather windows, the a sail boat or a trawler.

Crab Cay

On our way to the West, we stopped at Crab Cay again. The anchorage is well protected from many wind directions, provides good holding for the anchor and will serve as our starting point towards the western end of the Bahama Banks, from were will cross the Gulf Stream back to Florida.

A view on the anchorage at Crab Cay

It took us only about two hours from Powell Cay to Crab Cay. So we got there early and had again time to explore a slough with our dinghy. On our way back, we stopped on a sandy patch, thrower the anchors for the dinghys and plunged in the beautiful waters. We even got a short visit from a small shark. He came very close to us. But it was too small to scare us off.

Sometimes, the hard job of captains deserve a cool swim

In the late afternoon, Rick, a fellow cruiser came in to the anchorage. Immediately, the weather became the most discussed subject. Everybody was trying to gather the latest weather forecast and trying to determine, when it would be best, to cross the Gulf stream. Our plan was to cross on Saturday. Rick was heading to Fort Pierce and planned for the crossing on Friday.

Just before dawn, finally a catamaran pulled in as well. Only four boats shared this nice place for the night.

Tranquilizer at anchor at Crab Cay

Powell Cay

Finally we have left Green Turtle Cay. It was again a very nice place to spend a couple of days. Our next stop was just about 6 nautical miles away. Powell Cay is again a beautiful place with beautiful beaches, clear water and other cruisers found the snorkeling fantastic. The places for snorkeling are usually on the Atlantic side of the islands. The seas are still rough, so snorkeling is off the list. Even without submerging your head, you can find beautiful saline right off the beach.

But hey, I got a fishing rod and bought a Cuban line to fish. What a shame, for more than 3 weeks, I did not catch one single fish! Ok, I'm not the most experienced fisherman... The last time, I tried my luck, was in Alaska - and that was in 1991! So I had to try harder.

And there we go!

I caught the first fish in the Bahamas - a Mackerel. Let's see, if we can catch more and make it a meal. Mid afternoon, Bob joined me and we went trawling the lines from our dinghy. We had several hits, I lost two other Mackerels an finally Bob could reel another one in. By the end of the day, we had two Mackerels, which we cleaned and prepared immediately. The fresh fish made a very good afternoon snack.

Fish and - chips? ;-)

Getting ready for the next destination

We spent 3 nights at the Bluff House Maria in green Turtle Cay already. Tomorrow, we will leave this very nice place and move to Powell Cay, an island just 6 miles west from where we are right now. After that, we will move on to Crab Cay, Great Sale Cay and then anchoring on the bank near Memory Rock, for the Friday night, before we cross the Gulf Stream on Saturday. As so often during the last couple weeks, these plans are subject to change, depending on the weather. But so far, it looks like the crossing will take place on Saturday.

This will be the binning of our last couple legs on our way towards Florida. Since we try to avoid the overpriced, narrow marina at West End, we will not have a further opportunity to top up fuel and water. So we bought some diesel right here at the dock, and filled the water tanks, according to what we will need on the approximately 6 days, until we will be doled in Stuart again.

This afternoon, we went to the small but very nice beach on the south side of the island. It's just a 5 minutes walk. The water is beautiful and the beach bar had Conch Fritters, which are just delicious. Conch is a local, quite large shell, from which various dishes can be prepared. Conch Fritters and Conch salad are our favourites.

From now on, we will not have internet access, to post anything here, unless we have get back to Stuart Florida.

The beach on the south side of Green Turtle Cay

Another Tropical Front is approaching

The weather in the Bahamas seems to be unusual this year. Even the weather man Chris Parker, a sailor and meteorolgist is surprised, on how long the sequences of building fronts last here down south and in the Bahamas. By this time of the year, benign and settled spring weather should be around. But we are getting a front avery 10 days or so, bringing high winds, qualms and heavy rain for one or two days.

Since we were following up the weather forecast very carefully, we decided, to reserve a slip at the Bluff House Marina, in Green Turtle Cay. This would allow us to provisioning the boats with fuel and water. We can also use the pool, showers and have a drink at the bar, if we are up to.

It turned out, that it was a good decision. We got here on Friday midday. Two hours later, the wind picked up to 20 kts, with higher gusts. Everybody at the dock was running around, clearing the decks from lines, sails everything that could be blown away.

Finally, the rain set in, accompained by some thunderstorms. We had a quiet night, knowing the boat is securely tied up at the dock. And the batteries got their treat as well, being hooked up at the shore power after more than a month.

Last night, another Hunter sail boat took a slip at the marina. By the end of the day, there were four Hunter sailboats slipped at the Bluff House Marina. We didn't see any other boat make as often as the Hunters. Apparently, these Hunter boats being used by their owners to cruise around, while other, according to the cruiser society, real ocean crossing blue water sailboats, tend to sit at their docks.

We found, that our Hunter 410 offers everything we need. And for me, being 6'4" tall, there is plenty of head room down below. The cabin is spacious and flooded with light. The cockpit is roomy and provide several spots to lay down and chill out.

So we are waiting for the weather to improve, and decide then, on were we will be going next and when we will crossing the Gulf Stream back to Florida.

Tranquilizer, amongst 3 other Hunter sailboats, 

slipped at Bluff House Marina in Green Turtle Cay

A great day to cross the Whale Cay Passage

As the time of our stay in the Abacos is slowly elapsing, we had to time our crossing through the Whale Cay Passage. While this passage, on a good day, can be a snap, you find lots of reasonable warnings, to time your crossing well. In a "rage" (stronger not winds or swell from the Atlantic Ocean pushing the waters through the narrow cut in the barrier reef), the conditions out there can be hazardous for most boats.

Some boats left Treasure Cay a day before us. They hurried up, to make the crossing over the Gulf Stream on Thursday or Friday. The weather forecast for the weekend is very bad. A storm from the North is approaching, bringing squalls and sustained winds up to 30 kts. The weather should then calm down again, allowing for a passable crossing of the Gulf Stream towards the end of the upcoming week.

So we left Treasure Cay on Wednesday morning and headed towards the Whale Cay Passage. The weather was just perfect. Bright sky, light wind and only a gentle swell from the Atlantic. When we came to the beginning of the passage on the East side, many more sail and power boats joined us for the crossing.

The conditions on the Ocean were just perfect. A "Sécurite" call on the radio caught out attention. A dive boat found a sea freight container, floating just under or at the surface at Chub Cay, only a half a mile away from our position. - Always the issues with logistics! - A police patrol boat came into sight, headed out to the site, to take care of the situation. Such a floating container can easily sink a cruising boat, when hitting the hull. We carried on and enjoyed our pleasant ride under sail, with some help of our iron friend Yanmar down below.

We went to Crab Cay / Manjack Cay, an anchorage which we have visited already. Yes, of course did we go to see the wild hogs again! Still there, still nosy in every way, for whom is coming and what is going on. Later we did dinghy to another fantastic beach to cool off al little bit.

At the end of the day, we've been threaten by another fantastic sunset.

Back to the hogs again

Free running chickens

Life at the beach could be worse...

No problems, to find your own spot here!

What do people do, whilst in a marina or at anchor?

You may questioned, what people on a sailboat do, when lines are tied up in a marina or at anchor. 

Well, let me tell you:

When moving from land on a boat, there are several things, immediately becomes obvious:

• Has that person, whom invented the dishwasher, ever been awarded with the Nobel price?
• Why do boat builders pretend, that humans seldomly grow taller than 5 feet?
• Was there a time before a refrigerator and a freezer?
• Was it on purpose, that the boat builder constructed things in a way, that you have to disassemble the whole boat at the bow, before you can access something, actually installed at stern?

So you could amend this list infinitely! 

But soon, you recognize other things as well, such as:

• Where do all this additional, new stars are coming from, that I can see at night?
• Why do I have so many things at home, which don't miss even a second here out on the water?
• Having a rich or a simple meal is not a determine factor for having a better or a less good day.
• A simple life can be as, or even more rewarding than a luxury one.
• The cruising community is a real family. Without ever having seen each other, almost everybody is helpful and offers a hand, where ever needed. Why does this work on the water only?

On a boat, there is always something to do, to maintain, change or figure out. Sometimes it's just toping up the engine's oil, the coolant, the diesel or the gasoline of the generator or the dinghy. But there is much more, you need to take care of: Checking the energy consumption and generation, to make sure, the batteries are fully charged once a day, repairing or installing some piece of equipment etc. 

Yesterday, I finished up the installation of the two new SmartPlugs for the shore power. This Sytem is much safer than the common shore power inlet. and plugs.

Today, I maintained and cleaned the electrical winch. 

Well she really deserved a good clean and grease!

Every part got cleaned, inspected, eventually replaced, greased and installed again.

And of course, everyday we have to verify the accuracy of the weather report our self at the beach or the pool ;-)

Back to Treasure Cay

The weather forecast is predicting some breezy days over the weekend in to the beginning of next  week. Instead of staying at Marsh Harbour, we decided to get a little bit closer to the Whale cay passage and to spend some more days at the most beautiful beach of Treasure Cay.

While the other days, the marina at Treasure Cay told me every morning, that there are hardly any mooring balls available, the statement of today was: "the mooring field is almost empty"! So we took the chance, lifted anchor and made our way to Treasure Cay. Upon arrival, there were only about 4 boats in the field. So plenty of choice.

It's really a nice place to spend another couple days, waiting for the perfect passage weather trough the Wale Cay cut.

We got an invitation from our buddy boat for tomorrow night - Sangria and Steaks! That's fantastic! We need to buy some more lights to put out on our boat - just to make sure, we get aboard the right boat when returning... ;-)

Stay tuned!

Man-O-War Cay

Today, we liftet anchor and headed towards Man-O-War Cay. A Cay, with a long boat building history. The wind forecast was light and from west, veering to north. So it should have make a perfect anchorage just on the south side of the cay. Again it was a short 1 hr ride to get there.

Once the anchors were set, we got in the dinghy and headed towards "down town". It's a small little village. Compared to the other island we have visited so far, the population is mostly white, while the native Bahamians are black. This is, because Man-O-War Cay was populated from the Loyalists in the 17th Century. We had a fantastic lunch at the one and only restaurant in town. Once everybody's shopping needs were covered, we went back to the boats.

We spotted several sea turtles on our way back. we changed for the swim suits and jumped in the crystal clear water. The snorkeling was not so good. Beside of lots of sea grass some debris and our anchors, not much was to be seen. But the water temperature of 25.4°C is just perfectly refreshing.

 At 6.00 pm all of a sudden, the wind picked up and it was not from the predicted direction. In stead of the format north wind, we got plenty of wind from the south, for wich we had no protection against. Waves started to build and it became pretty rolly.

We decided, not to stay there, because we did not know, whether the wind would even increase, which would have lead in to an uncomfortable situation, with rocks laying just 100 meters in the back of the boat. So we hurried up to pull the anchors up, hoping to make it back with the last ray of light to Marsh Harbour. Right at sunset, we got back to the anchorage, where we set anchor for a quiet night. It was a fantastic day, with an unexpected but we known location for the night.

Handcrafted bags at the Sail Loft

Burning skies when setting anchor - what a treat at the end of the day!

Great Guana Cay

On Thursday, April 7th, we decided to move to Great Guana Cay. We left the Anchorage in Marsh Harbour at 9.00 am. The wind from the East allowed us to put the sails up and we we had a nice 2 hrs ride to Greate Guana Cay. While under way, the wind became brisk, which was ok, since it's direction was in our favor.

Once we got to Great Guana Cay, we found only three suitable mooring balls in a line, right in the center of the opening of the harbour, from which the one in the center was occupied by a large catamaran. We didn't feel comfortable with the remaining room for the boats to swing. In addition, the wind was forecast to veer to South, wich meant, that we were unprotected from the building seas. After considering the options, we decided to go back to Marsh Harbour.

It was a bumpy ride! We had to pint straight in to the wind, blowing with about 25, gusting to 32 knots. Once we were back at the Marsh Harbour anchorage, the wind settled down and the seas became calm again... So we probably could have stayed at Great Guana Cay with no problem. But you never know, and the wind forecast is not always something to relay on.

Windsong II fighting in to the waves

Hope Town - forth and back

High winds were forecast for Tuesday night and Wednesday. So we wanted to move to a secure place on mooring ball at Hope Town. On Monday, we got up early, to arrive just before low tide in Hope Tide. We also thought, arriving early would increase the chance to get a mooring ball.

Hope town is a pristine small town, with a fantastic caribbean flair. So we went there and arrived just around 10.00 am. After entering trough the shallow and narrow channel, we started looking for available mooring balls. Soon we spottet two of them, right next to each other in this very crowded place. As we approached the moorings, it turned out, somebody was holding a reservation on them, although everybody was kept telling us, that reservations would not be possible...

Disappointed as we were, we made our way back to Marsh Harbour and anchored at pretty much the same place from where we left in the morning.

So we decided, to take the ferry on Tuesday to Hope Town. There we went. The ferry ride was only about 20 minutes. Only golf carts are allowed on the tiny roads of Hope Town. The houses are painted colorful and the beach on the atlantic side is just amazing.

The downside was, that there became several mooring balls available, while we were waiting for our lunch at the water front restaurant. But we also saw many boats coming in, not finding an available ball and leaving - just we had to a day ago.

After lunch at the water side, we of course had to take a dip in the ocean.

Windsong II on the tricky approach through the shallow waters around Hope Town

Marsh Harbour

On Friday, we sailed from Treasure Cay to Marsh Harbour. The wind was brisk (between 16 and 20 knots). We had to go through a narrow passage between a shoal and the main island. The sea was choppy with a very short interval. So we decided, to take down all the sails and make our way in to Marsh Harbour with our friend the Iron Wind.

The anchorage in Marsh Harbour is huge. And there are many boats anchored out. Some of them, never leave the anchorage for weeks or even months. But most of the yachts are transiting on there way towards their destination. Many of them are coming from the Exumas, where they spent the winter time. Now, with the warmer weather, they are headed north, through the Abacos to cross the Gulf Stream. Some leave their boat somewhere in the South, some proceed to their home, wherever that is.

Marsh Harbour is the commercial center in the Abaco. If you are looking for any kind of supplies, this seems the place to be. If you are looking out for nice beaches and crystal clear water, you may have to search somewhere else.

Upon arrival, we were starving and decided to treat us with a lunch in the Conch Inn Martina restaurant. Some conch fritters and a fish burger with Grouper was just about the right thing to make us happy.

On Saturday, we went on a dive trip with Dive Abaco. We had to be at 9.00 am at the shop. When I checked all the gear again, I found out, that the battery of one of the dive computers was low. So I had to get a new battery somewhere. Not an easy job in the short time remaining, until the boat was scheduled for departure! There I went, ran to the hardware store - nothing, ran to the jeweler stop - still closed, checked the photo shop - nothing. I ended up at the pharmacy, about 1 1/2 miles away. Luckily they had the battery, and I bought all their stock - 2 pcs.

I knew, I couldn't make the way back to the boat in time, when walking. So I hitch hiked. Already the third car stopped and agreed to carry me back to the dive shop. Well the cars door did not had any handles inside anymore... I had to hold it in the closed position through the window, while the driver smiled at me and switched the central locking function on and off we went.

The people here in the Bahamas are very friendly and helpful.

I made it just in time back to the boat, where Beatrice already begun to gear up the tanks. It was a choppy but nice 30 minute ride out through the North Cut of Man-O-War Cay to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the third largest barrier reef in the world. So we picked up a mooring ball and jumped in to the water. Between the first and the second dive, the boat relocated to another mooring, about 500 meters away. Both spots were beautiful and very different from each other. We spotted sharks, many groupers, lots of colorful corals and dove through some caves in the reef. The water is just amazingly clear.

We returned at about 1.00 pm at the dock in Marsh Harbour, rinsed the gear, had a dip in the pool and returned to our boat. After a hot meal on the boat, we both fell a sleep for a while, until our friend from Windsong II came over for a chat and a drink. The Goombay Smash really became our favorite drink within a short time.

The pictures will be uploaded as soon as we have a suitable internet connection. I relocated the Wifi Booster and it turned out, that a line could catch it and ripped the off the antenna. So I had to solder the things together. After all, the performance is not outstanding, but functional. Nevertheless, there is no free WiFi hotspot in rech and we have to relay an the cell phone with the Bahamas SIM card.

We still have no useful internet connection, anyways, here they are: