Authors Note: Any spelling or grammatical errors in the following log are the fault of the editorial staff, but since we can't afford to pay them, we let it slide.

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April 22, 2017 : Loading Supplies

Time to start loading supplies for the trip. As you can see, we have stocked up on the important items:

Plenty of water - must keep hydrated!

AND.....

Plenty (?) of beer - must keep from going broke buying it in the Bahamas! Would probably take more but we don't want to sink the boat....

Hopefully we will still have room for us and clothes.....

April 26, 2017: On our way!

Leaving Ft. Myers behind

Off the dock at 7:55, brief stop at the fuel dock and then headed up the Caloosahatchee. Not many other boats out this time of the day so it's a quiet passage past downtown. Past a few cruising sailboats and trawlers heading our way but not much else. We had found out the night before that the last lock that we need to get through in St. Lucie stops opening at 4:30pm so we have to make tracks. We reached Franklin Lock and waited about 15 mins for an opening. Picked up some company; a 42ft Palm Beach being delivered back to Ft. Lauderdale from Sarasota boat show. We decided to let them lead the way since we both had to make that lock opening schedule. So we simply followed behind and let them call the locks and bridges for openings (lazy day for me, simply had to drive).

Franklin Lock

We made Ortona lock at 11:50, Moore Haven at 12:40 across Lake O (smooth) and through Port Mayaca lock at 2:15.

Port Mayaca Lock

(NOTE: the lake level is so low that the Port Mayaca lock was open at both ends. Normally it has a 1ft drop from the lake down to the St. Lucie canal). We made the final lock at 4:05 (25 minutes to spare!). We said goodbye to our traveling companions in the PB42 and headed to Stuart where we docked for the evening at Pirates Cove Marina and enjoyed a cold beverage and dinner.

April 27, 2017: Bahamas bound!

Up early and made coffee onboard. Topped off the fuel tanks and made our way out St. Lucie Inlet. Everybody we talked to said that the weather looked perfect and that we would have a nice day crossing. Not sure what their frame of reference is but I would not describe our trip over as "nice". Winds were maybe 15-20 kts from the SE so the inlet was a bit choppy but not too bad. Once we go out into the Atlantic and the Gulf Stream we had trouble making 13-15 kts without banging the boat to pieces (and our spines). Wave predictions were for 2-3ft but I know that some of the bigger ones were at least 5 and they were close together so the throttles got a workout (so did the driver and the windshield wipers). What was planned to be a 3hr crossing became a 4.5hr crossing but we finally crossed into light blue water and reached West End, Grand Bahama at 1:30pm. (Sorry, no pictures of the crossing. Too hard to take photos while you're holding on with both hands!)

West End - Old Bahama Bay marina

Calmer waters on Little Bahama Bank

We cleared into customs (note to self, don't fill out 3 copies of immigration forms next time), got our permits, topped off the fuel (again) and made our way across Little Bahama Bank to Great Sale Cay for our first evening in the Bahamas. Anchored there with about 6 other boats in a slight chop from the SE winds. We immediately cracked open a cold beer, got on our swim suits and jumped in the crystal clear water...ahhhhhh. Once we cooled off from the long trip, we fired up the grill and cooked some steaks for dinner under the stars. A good finish to a crappy day.

First swim in Bahamian Waters

Sunset at Great Sale Cay

 

April 28, 2017 - Unchartered territory.

When we were last in the Abacos (in the sailboat), we stayed in the "southern" Abaco islands and didn't venture up to the more northern islands. This time we were determined to see some different places. So, we got coffee brewing and got things squared away for our next leg. We made our way north about an hour to Grand Cay, just north of Double Breasted Cay. We entered the harbor and tried to raise "Rosies" marina on the VHF & cell phone but got no answer. We finally decided to pull into a slip and see what's up. First thing we see was a big Bull shark swimming around the docks!

Entering harbor at Grand Cay

Docked at Rosie's Place

Shortly after tying up we met Danny the dock master who jumped onboard and took us over to an available slip (seems we arrived when most of the boats were out fishing so the slip we were in was occupied). Danny gave us the lay of the land and was very helpful. Seems Rosies is THE place for fishing boats to come to from FL for some weekend big game fishing. We also found out that it's also an option for clearing Customs (note to the authors of the Abaco cruising guide which still says Walkers Cay). Once we got properly tied up in our oversized slip (note to self, bring more and longer dock lines next time), we sat at the dock with a cold beer and and watched the various fishing boats (big center consoles & sportfish) come back from a day of fishing with their catches. One boat had a bunch of large snapper and at least a 50lb Grouper. Lots of bragging going on at the dock and photos being taken. The gear alone that some of these boats had was amazing.

We managed to get the kayak inflated onboard and took it for a short trip across the harbor and into some shallow sandy spots. The tide was ripping out the other end of the harbor so we had to be careful to stay in the shallow water or get taken for a ride to the Atlantic.

We ate dinner at Rosies restaurant (Rosie also has a grocery store, liquor store, gift shop, bar, fuel dock.......pretty much everything here). The cracked conch was delicious as was the fried chicken. We then took a stroll around town, stopped at Jolly's bar where we tried another local brew, Bush Crack, which is definitely better than Kalik or Sands in our opinion. Jolly's had an interesting "aquarium" under the bar (really just a screened pen under the dock that the bar in on) which contained a bunch of large sea turtles and a really big Grouper).

April 29, 2017 - Change of plans

The weather is not cooperating. We planned on heading over to Double Breasted Cay on Sat but the winds picked up from the SE and that would have made it "interesting". So we headed around the north end of Grand Cay to Wells Bay to anchor and swim. We returned to the dock about 2 hours later as the winds were increasing. Sundays forecast looked to be windier so it looks like we'll be here another day.

We had Betsy's birthday dinner at Ron's Hot Spot and Disco. Our bartender/waiter Marco was very friendly and the Wahoo and cracked conch was excellent. It's also election time here in the Bahamas. Unlike us, they get it over with quickly. It's about 1 month of campaigning with the election on May 10. There was a rally in the park tonight for one of the parties running (PLP) with music and lots of yellow shirts. The other party of interest out here is the FNM (red shirts). Plenty of both color shirts around town but seem like the PLP has the edge.

April 30, 2017 - Lazy Day

Most of the fishing boats got an early start heading back home to FL before the worst of the winds. We, however, are going to avoid the worst of the pounding I think and stay here another day and catch up on this blog and read a book. Also finally talked to Suzi & Boomer who arrived safely in Hopetown on Sat. and had just got back from picking up their rental boat.

(updated): Our good friend Danny the dock master stopped by the boat with a gift; a ziploc bag full of fresh yellowfin tuna. We tried to pay him for it but he declined. "You tipped me enough" he said. "not everyone that comes here does". Note to readers: TIP YOUR DOCK MASTERS!
We broke out the stove and pan and lightly seared it with some soy sauce.....yummy. Much better than our planned meal of pasta and sauce.

May 1, 2017 - Bumpy ride, again

Got up early and made coffee and got the boat ready for leaving. Danny dropped by to let us know that Rosie was in the marina office so we could check out. Interesting process. Rosie asked us how long we had been there, how much water had we used (even though we gave him the meter reading, he just asked us "about how much did you use?"). Then came the negotiation about dockage. He first said it was $1.50 per foot but then asked "what did they tell you?". Betsy said "anywhere between 1.25 and 1.75". He then explained what the range was for sailboats vs (little boats vs big boats) and then proceeded to give us the 1.25 rate. Love this place!

We said good bye to our new friend Danny and headed out the harbor at 8:45 for the 63 mile ride to Green Turtle Cay. Winds were reported at 15-20 kts from the SE. Once we got up to speed I knew it was going to be a hard ride. waves were 3+ and close together. We proceeded to bang our way down to Green Turtle Cay, stopping halfway when the safety bridle on the anchor broke and the anchor proceeded to flop around in front of the boat and then luckily land back on deck. I used a piece of spare line to lash it down and continued the ride to GTC, arriving at about 11:30 and tied up at the Green Turtle Club marina. Then spent the next while cleaning up the mess down below.

Once again, we're the small boat at the dock....

Once we got checked in, we had a hot shower and a nice juicy burger. Then we rented a golf cart and set off visiting familiar sites. One big surprise was the newly paved road going towards downtown New Plymouth. The ride used to be bone rattling (a bit like the boat ride we just had here), now it was smooth as glass. After a tour of downtown (and a stop at Sundowners for a beverage), we headed back to the GTC to visit one of our favorite bars and see our favorite bartender Miss Debbie. She's been working at the club for 35 years and is the heart and soul of this place. She always has a smile, remembers returning guests and calls you "dear" and "sweetie" and always has interesting stories to tell and makes you feel right at home. These visits also make for a late night walk back to the boat.....

May 2, 2017 - Beach Day

We can tell that the wind has died down because the mosquitoes were out and getting into the boat this morning. Time to put in the screens.
The decision was made to stay here one more day and let things calm down out on the water (enough banging already!). We also had the golf cart for another half day so it's off to breakfast at the liquor store/restaurant in New Plymouth (best egg and ham sandwiches!) and then to the beach!
We went to Gillam Bay and had it mostly to ourselves. Beautiful blue water and soft sand beach. doesn't get much better.
We returned to GT club and turned in our golf cart to D&P (the best!). Went to the bar to have a final beer with Miss Debbie and then returned to the boat and made Mac & Cheese for dinner.

Gillam Bay - Green Turtle Cay

May 3, 2017 - smooth ride!

Time to move on. Got checked out at GTC and topped off the fuel. Headed out into Sea of Abaco a little before 11am for Guana Cay. We finally have some smooth water!! We decided to try the "inside" route at Whale Cay through "Don't Rock Passage". The water color was a beautiful bright blue. Lowest depth reading was 2.8ft. We arrived in the harbor at Guana Cay at about 12pm and we tied up at Orchid bay Marina. Nice facility here. Very friendly folks trying to make a go of this place (it's been an on again, off again location over the years). Went for a stroll to Grabbers on the beach for a little lunch. Almost chocked on it when the bill came and the beers were $8 apiece (+ VAT of 7.5%). Then we went over to Nippers on the Atlantic side to swim a bit and had a beverage there. Then back to Orchid bay for a shower and check out the bar/dining room. Found the prices here very reasonable for the area (beer was a more palatable $6).

Don't Rock	Smooth water!
A couple of Nipper's specials	The Atlantic from Nipper's

May 4, 2017 - Windy

Next day we went for a long walk exploring some of the island neighborhoods. Found the local "Home Depot" equivalent, the now closed "Docksiders" restaurant which used to be a very popular place to come and eat but seems to have succumbed to a changing economy.
It's "wing night" at Orchid Bay. Which seems to be THE social event of the week because the place is packed. 8 pieces for $5, what a deal.
We sit at the bar and people watch. Dominic "Nick" the bartender is very attentive (and makes awesome frozen drinks!). so far this is the cheapest place for beer on the island.

Some visitors to our boat.......
Some of the local catch	Sunset on Great Guana Cay

May 5, 2017 - Hopetown or bust

Another windy day and we have to decide what to do. Tomorrow's forecast is for windy conditions too. We decide to call the rental agents we are using for the house we have to see if we can come a day early and stay at the dock. SURPRISE! Come to find out, the house we rented with a dock no longer has a dock. Seems that the sea wall and dock have collapsed and they are working on an alternate dock space for us....
We finally get directions to a dock that's about a minute walk from the house we rented. we are also told that we can now have the house a day early to make up for the inconvenience.
We leave Guana Cay in about 15-20 kts winds (again) and arrive in Hopetown harbor about 30 mins later. The folks at Elbow Cay properties are very apologetic about the dock situation and all is good.
We unload the boat supplies into the house and then meet up with Boomer & Suzi for dinner.

May 6, 2017 - Relocate

Having morning coffee on the deck at our rental house. All is peaceful with a nice view out over the harbor. Suddenly a barge pulls up in front of the house, ties onto the pilings that used to hold the dock and proceeds to start work on the seawall. So much for our peaceful morning. So we take a stroll on down to the Elbow Cay Property office and met Carrie, the owner and explain to her our new situation with the barge. Basically that no one mentioned the previous day that it would be coming back to start work while we were in the house. She was very sympathetic and offered us another house (actually the one where our boat was docked) at a reduced rate. This house was much nicer and had a pool. So we packed up and moved our stuff again.

Kokopelli docked in Hopetown (from the house)

View from the upper section of the house

May 7, 2017 - The Perfect Day

Mother nature was kind today and gave us a beautiful, sunny, light wind day. Got organized about 10:30AM or so and headed out of the harbor and headed on down to Little Harbor (Pete's Pub) about 15nm south (click HERE for short video). A brief stop on Tilloo Bank for some starfish and sand dollar hunting and then proceed on to Little Harbor where we squeezed into the last spot at the dock. Pete's was packed with folks coming by boat and car. Cold beer, tasty fish sandwiches and interesting people watching. Suzi & Boomer ran into a few people that they either knew or that had shared acquaintances. We also updated the comments on a couple of shirts we left tacked up on the walls of the pub on a previous visit.

Relaxing at anchor - Tilloo Bank (apprx 3ft deep here)

Pete's Pub - Little Harbor

Time to head back. But first a stop at Cracker P's, one of our favorite places here. We tied up at the mostly empty dock and walk up the dock and into Cracker P's and immediately run into Patrick, the owner, sitting at the bar with his dog "Csonka". His nephew Brendan and daughter-in-law Sasha are behind the bar and his wife Linda is watching their grandson Miles wander around in his toy car. Boomer spends a pleasant couple of hours chatting with Patrick about Prince Edward Island (where Patrick & Linda have a house), the local election and misc stuff. Pretty soon it's time to jump back in the boat and head back to Hopetown while enjoying a gorgeous sunset along the way.

	Csonka

May 8, 2017 - Tahiti Beach

Today we took the little boat (Boomer and Suzi's rental) for a day at Tahiti Beach. Packed the coolers and got there at low tide. Walked around in the shallows and looked for conch and other interesting shells. Saw a few small Barracuda and even a small shark. Hung out at the boat, Suzi did some snorkeling. All in all a very lazy day. Then we went back to Hopetown and grilled some nice steaks at our rental house for dinner.

May 9, 2017 - Swimming Pigs!

Another gorgeous day on the water! Got going a little after 11am and made the run up to Green Turtle Cay via Whale Cay Pass. Took brief detour and anchored off No Name Cay to see the swimming pigs (see video). Then headed up into White Sound on Green Turtle Cay and tied up at the Green Turtle Club for lunch (which was delicious). We rented a golf cart at Brendell's Dive Shop and drove into New Plymouth for a tour of the town including a stop at the home of the Goombay Smash (Miss Emilies Blue Bee Bar). Then we headed back to White Sound and went over to the Bluff House beach bar for one round and then back to the boat for the run back to Hopetown. This time we took the inside route past "Don't Rock". Got back to Hopetown just before sunset.

Swimming pigs at No Name Cay

Kokopelli and piglet

May 10, 2017 - The big aquarium

Another light wind day here. Good day to go snorkeling. Took Boomer & Suzi's rental boat through the crystal clear water and over to Mermaid Reef near Marsh Harbor. It's just a small reef in shallow water but there are lots of fish and they aren't shy (see video). It was like being inside a large aquarium. After our fill of snorkeling. it was back over to Tahiti Beach to hang out and go shelling and have some cold beverages. I managed to step on a small sea urchin that was hiding under some sea grass (OUCH!). Managed to pick out the small spines so no harm done. Then we watched a group of college guys play whiffle ball on the beach. We stayed there on the beach for a few hours and then headed back to Hopetown to get ready for "Asian Buffet" night at the Hopetown Inn & Marina. The chef made everything to order in front of you and it was very good. Full Moon tonight over the harbor.

Boomer holding a queen conch

"etsy finds a starfish

May 11, 2017 - Just Chillin

Weather is sunny and calm winds today. We pack up Kokopelli and head out to Tilloo Cay and the nearby sand bank for some beach walking and then some shallow water swimming. See some rays swimming across the sand bank but they don't come near enough for pictures but we did get visited by a very curious barracuda. Next stop was Tahiti Beach at low tide. Not long after we arrived we watched as the crew from a nearby 120ft yacht (Andrea Cay) came in on two RIBs and set up chairs, umbrellas, coolers and beach toys for their passengers. Suzi was getting excited to see if they were rich & famous people. No such luck. They were just some nice folk who were lucky enough to know or work for the boat owner and get to use it occasionally.

We then decide to skip trivia might at Cap'n Jacks and head over to Cracker P's for a final happy hour (we thought) there and then back to the dock. The days are just flying by.

May 12, 2017 - Last Full Day

Last full day in the house. Spent some time packing clothes into our bags. "Betsy went for a Sea Bean hunt on the beach (successful). Boomer and Suzi returned their rental boat. We then all jumped into Kokopelli for a last trip to Tahiti Beach to just hang out for the day. Then one last (honest) trip to Cracker P's and then back to the house where we grilled some steaks and the four of us sat outside on the deck of our rental house and enjoyed one last view of the harbor at night.

May 13, 2017 - Goodbye Hopetown

Boomer and Suzi catch the 8am ferry back to Marsh Harbor for their flight home. We wave to them from our dock as we get the boat packed up. This turned out to be a terrific house to stay in and we really want to thank Carrie and the others at Elbow Cay Properties for being so nice to use and finding this place. But now it's time to move on.

We've been looking at the weather forecasts for the next week and Mother Nature is not playing nice. It's getting windy again and our window for exploring is getting small. It's looking like we might have 3 days of "fair" weather and then it turns ugly. So our choices are to make it back to Green Turtle and then do two long days back to Florida OR do a really long trip back to Grand Cay and then two shorter days. We decide to push on to Grand Cay (about 100 miles). We fill up the fuel in Hopetown and make our way. The trip starts out not bad. The Sea of Abaco has a slight chop but it's pleasant ride. We take the Don't Rock Pass shortcut and head on past Green Turtle Cay (sorry Miss Debbie). Once we get past Spanish Cay and get into the more open north end it starts to get ugly; bigger chop and rollers from multiple directions and the wind has definitely picked up. We're only halfway there. After banging the boat and ourselves for another couple of hours, we arrive back at Rosie's Place where once again nobody answers the radio! We tie up at outside T-dock and find the "dock master" (not Danny, he's out fishing today) who tells us where we can tie up. We get the boat set and the power hooked up and then it's time for a cold beer. Danny stops by to say hi when he returns from fishing. Then it's some cracked conch for dinner and back to the boat. More weather-related decisions to make.

May 14, 2017 - Bite the bullet

Our weather window is closing. The forecast for the area of the Little Bahama Bank is calling for East winds of 15+ knots increasing to 20 knots later in the day and then they diminish on Monday to 5-10 knots before going back up to 15-20 on Tues through at least Friday! So we have to get to West End today and then cross to Florida on Monday or we're stuck for maybe a week. Guess we won't get to see Double Breasted Cay on this trip after all.

We wait out a couple of really bad rain storms during the morning and then head out onto the bank with a couple of other boats for a 54 mile across to West End. We decide to take the direct route while the other boats follow a different track. It wasn't too bad to start, a bit lumpy but once we got out into deeper water on the bank the chop got bigger and the ride got worse. Still more than halfway to go. After a little over 2 hours we reach the shallow water of the reef, just before you enter the Atlantic Ocean for a short ride south to the entrance into Old Bahama Bay. This is where Mother Nature REALLY turned nasty. My bad for not accounting for the tide situation. The wind was from the east and the tide was coming in, against the tide. The water depth in the Atlantic just before the reef comes up from over 1000 feet to just about 8 feet on the reef. Lots of water trying to come over that reef! I can see water breaking at the edge of the reef where our passage out is supposed to be according to the track we took on the way in. Instead of nice short waves lapping over the Reef as it was then, it's now 8-9 foot breaking waves! (Note: Hindsight is 20/20 and if I had it to do again, I would have turned around before the start of the reef section and anchored until the tide switched but at the time we were already into the start of the bigger waves and turning around was not really an option. I also would have had the GoPro camera ready). So we hit the first of the big waves and the bow goes straight up, then we crash down into the trough between that and the next and proceed to punch trough the next wave which sends an unholy amount of water completely over the top of the boat and into the back half not to mention a good amount that gets in between the windshield and the canvas & plastic windows and into our laps. When the window clears, all I see is another big wave, the motors are still running so I gun the throttles and get over that and the next and the waves begin to get smaller and aren't breaking anymore. I keep going straight until the waves are small enough that I can turn broadside to them and get to the harbor entrance without getting rolled. We enter the basin at Old Bahama Bay exhausted and soaked. We get a slip for the night, a shower and then find some cold beers to calm ourselves with. Tomorrow is the Gulf Stream crossing.

May 15, 2017 - Back to Florida

Yesterday when we entered the marina, it was almost full. This morning we wake to an almost empty marina. Almost every boat (which are all bigger than us) has left to either get to Florida or get across the bank into the Abacos before the wind picks up later today. We check the current forecast. It calls for 10 knots or so from the ENE. The one thing they say when crossing the Gulf Stream is that you don't want the letter "N" in the wind direction but at this point we can't wait. It will only get worse later today and into the rest of the week. We get some fuel and head out at about 7:30am. The ride across was surprisingly good! Mostly 2-3 foot swells with occasional chop but basically heaven compared to the previous 2 days. We arrived into the Lake Worth Inlet at West Palm Beach in just over 2 hours, called into the US Customs small vessel reporting system and were cleared into the US by phone. We then took a leisurely (with all the slow speed zones, there's no choice) 26 mile ride up the Intracoastal Waterway to Stuart and tied up at our favorite spot here, Pirates Cove Marina in Manatee Pocket. We decide to stay an extra day here before the long ride back to Ft. Myers.

 

(view additional photos in the photo gallery)