Sometimes it has to be as far as the Bahamas

I'm sure, all of you already have experienced this - you are at remote location, far away from home, and then unexpectedly you meet with somebody, which you haven't met for a long time.

Exactly this happened to us today. We went to the beach and noticed, that there are some people in the water, speaking Swiss German. This is the first the second time in two weeks, when we found Swiss people here. So we headed there and started talking to them. Very quickly it turned out, that they were friends of Marco, which he haven't met for 20 years or more! All converted from the six pack in the old days to a one pack at present and grow older. So we did not recognize each other in the first place. Urs Bögli, with his wife Barbara and friends. Long time ago, we all played together in a carnival orchestra. Urs and I joined the Jungwacht, a kind of a boys scout organization in Switzerland.

It was an entirely unexpected and very pleasant get together after all. The will stay for couple of days on the catamaran, which they chartered for two weeks in Marsh Harbour.

Sometimes, you have to go far, to find people, you haven't seen for decades. You can look at the horizon and certainly you will agree, the world is really big, and all of a sudden, it's smaller than the town, you were raised at. What a small world you then may say!

Treasure Cay

We still enjoy the fantastic beach, thepool and the infrastructure here at Treasure Cay. The advantage to live on a boat pays off by far! The cost for a mooringball is $20.- per day and boat. This includes all the facilities at the marina, ghe beach and free WiFi. The internet access is not garantied tough. Every now and then, the connection gets lost. But this is not a real concern.

The Treasure Cay beach

Yesterday, the crews of Windsong II and Tranquilizer teamed up to prepare a nice dinner to celebrate Eastern. After a tropical drink and a variety of apetizers, we had a salad, pork loin from the BBQ, risotto, and wine, followed by a pineapple cake frome the lokal bakery- yummi! We had a fantastic evening with good friends. In addition, Bob handed me over one of it's fishing rods as a present! Many thanks to Bob again! When thinking about it, I think it is how he expressed his compassion for my inability to catch a fish with the Cuban fishing reel I've purchased some days ago. Of course I'm under heavy pressure now, to catch some fish quickly, and invite him for a fish meal. Well, that could also end up in an invitation to fish restaurant - let's see how quick I can develop my skills. All I know is, that the learning curve must be verry steep!!!

Today started with rewiring the solar controller. When I've installed the system, I did not go through the shunt with the negative cable. So the battery monitor did not ount for the amps, charged by the solar system. Afte about an hour, ghe system was back up again. Time to get ready for the beach.

Going through the Whale Cay

Yesterday we went back to Green Turtle Cay, to stay at the mooring ball for the night. Thunderstorms and squalls were forecast.

Today, Saturday, everything was on green to go through the Whale Cut and in to the Sea of Abaco. We dropped the mooring ball around 7.15 am and headed for the channel, leading to the sea. But there were several sailboats ahead of us. So even on the water, queuing is what it takes...

Several sailboats in the Green Turtle White Sound channel

The wind was moderate (10 - 13 kts) from ESE, just as needed for the passage. When we headed out for the open Atlantic Ocean, some swell gave us a bumpy start, then things smoothed out and we had a good crossing. Once we were arrived in the Sea of Abaco, we hoisted all sails and we made up to 6.5 kts over ground. Thats pretty good for the 13 kts of wind we had.

Sails up on Tranquilizer

Our buddy boat Windsong II sailing the Sea of Abaco

Our destination was Treasure Cay, where we were looking for a mooring ball. After toping up fuel and water at the fuel dock, we found plenty of available moorings in the field. Beatrice did a great job. She grabbed the ball the third time in a row at the first attempt!

We went to the arena office, the super market, the bakery and finally to the beach, where we suffered from the hard life on the islands...

Isn't this beach just one of the best in the world? And while this portion is having a restaurant and some infrastructure, the main portion of the beach is just untouched. We will carry the load and keep on suffering here for a while!

Headed out for Crab Cay / Manjack Cay

On thursday, we finally made it out from Whithe Sound towards the anchorage between Crab Cay (another Crab Cay, than we already have visited) and Maniack Cay. It was a short ride only. The anchorage is very large and a number of boats were in there already. Not a problem and we could drop our hook in a well protected spot.

After having a small snack for lunch, we got the dinghy ready to go ashore. Bob landed me his bucket with a lens at the bottom. So I could inspect the anchor - all good. Well set in a sandy spot with some gras. The water depth is only 3 to 4 meters. So the 80 feet of chain, we let out should provide a good holding.

We were headed for the beach and noticed, that there must be native animals on the ground... We knew, that there are pigs at Staniel Cay in the Exumas and there should be pigs at No Name Cay in the Abaco as well. But we did not know, that there are hogs at Crab Cay too!

These pigs are very curious!

Well guys, up for a ride?!

The encounter with the animals was just fascinating, and the beach is amazing! We had a quiet night at anchor and will head towards No Name Cay. We will probably spend the night in White Sound again and heading trough the Whale Cay passage tomorrow.

Still in Green Turtle Cay

We are still waiting for more settled weather here in Green Turtle Cay. During the last couple days, we went to the town, tried out the new BBQ grill for the first time, and fixed this an that on the boat.

Of course, we also dignified to the local culture and bought some Bahamian rum! Beatrice then prepared our own tropic drink - delicious!

We liked the name and the taste of it!

Today, we will go a shore and probably do some laundry and rent a golf cart, cruising around the island and trying to see the atlantic coast.

Green Turtle Cay

We made it to Green Turtle Cay in the early Friday afternoon. We were looking for a mooring ball for each one of the boats. It turned out, that we made the right decision this morning; to head straight in to the Anchorage, we picked up the last two available mooring balls. Of course would anchor out, and some boats do so. But this place it not famous for a good holding. Knowing that we will get some strong winds an thunderstorms, we felt much saver at the mooring ball. The cost per night is $20.-, not too bad.

During the next couple of hours, we saw many boats coming and leaving, searching for a safe place to stay. We kept holding tight on our mooring balls.

There is a famous sailors bar at the resort and the bar in town, which invented the original Guumbay Smash drink. Of course, we had to see them all!

Sunrise at Green Turtle Cay

On our way to down town

The post office

Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar, where the Guumbay Smash was invented

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!