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.

4/1/08 - On the way!

First leg of our Bahamas trip is in the books. We loaded the boat yesterday, slept onboard and then took off this morning at about 8am. Since this was a bit of a shakedown leg, we anchored in at Factory Bay in Marco Island about 8 hours later. Bit of a bumpy slog down and Molly was not a happy camper. I guess she needs to get her sea legs back. Looking at a long ride down to Marathon next.

4/2/08 - Change of Plans

Weather predictions and a desire to not be completely exhausted when we go somewhere (or navigate the shallow waters of the keys in the dark) made us change our plans and only go as far as Little Shark River today. We still had to get going by 7am and motor for 10 hours as it was. Had to dodge around some rain squalls along the way (caught the edge of one and it soaked us!).

We also have a new sailing mascot that we let drive the boat for a short while (thanks to the folks at Healthpark Cath Lab!). Unfortunately, gumby didn't do well as a helmsman, the wheel is a bit big for him. We've demoted him to cabin boy.


The anchorage at Little Shark River reminded us of some of the places we stopped at inthe Chesapeake on our ICW trip; very quiet, surrounded by trees and no humans in sight (except for the 6 other boats anchored there with us). Should have packed a buglight for all the mosquitoes though. We felt like prisoners in our boat after dusk (screens in all the hatches, no venturing outside). We also thought that our anchor was snagged on an underwater log the way it caught and worrying about that kept us from a good night's sleep (turned out not to be a problem). I don't think I need to revisit this anchorage any time soon.

4/3/08 - Retracing old paths:

Today we motor sailed to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Betsy & I spent a terrific New Year's eve here back in 2003/2004 during our trip down the ICW. The trip from Little Shark River was windy but with the jib rolled out some, the ride was not bad (but a bit wet). The worst part was dodging the crab pots every few minutes during the entire 7 hour trip. The wind was blowing a steady 15 knots with gusts to 20. Molly seems to have found her sea legs and her comfy spot on the boat during each passage (we were worried for a while that she wouldn't adjust back to the boating routine).
As we approached Boot Key Harbor, a coast guard helo was practicing rescue procedures; dumping the rescue swimmer in the water and picking him back up. I guess if you have to do it, here is better than Alaska!

The bridge tender at Boot Key Harbor was very friendly and chatted with us on the radio as we waited for him to open the bridge into the harbor. He said "welcome back to paradise" when we told him it had been four years since our last visit. Much has changed since then; they've added a lot of city moorings and eliminated much of the anchoring space in the harbor. I'm sure this has made many cruisers angry and many others happy. Most of the derelict boats we saw last time are gone. The mooring field is well laid out and well organized with free pumpouts on request, dinghy dock space, shower & laundry facilities, etc. The harbor still has some of the old honky tonk feel to it though.
Weather predictions aren't favorable to head up the keys for a couple of days, so we're hanging out here until Sat at least.

4/8/08 - Reverse direction:

Ended up spending three nights in Boot Key Harbor because of weather. Visited our waterside bar that we spent New Year's 2003/2004 at. Made at least two visits to the local West Marine to fix an issue with our outboard's gas tank (bad hose). Got some laundry done but then it was time to get going. Good old NOAA (stands for No One Analyzes Anything) couldn't seem to get any forecasts right. We finally took a chance and headed out to Rodriguez Key on Sunday the 6th. It was a sunny day with the wind from the SE which allowed us to motor sail with the jib out and get to the anchorage in about 8.5 hours.

Unfortunately, NOAA weather got this day wrong also - we spent most of the night at anchor awake in thunderstorms, heavy wind and rain. Quite a few of the boats anchored with us dragged anchor and had to reset. At one point we had the motor running in case we had to do the same or get out of the way of another boat. Oh boy, cruising is fun!

Up early the next morning and got the hell out of that anchorage and headed for Miami. Once again NOAA radio was wrong (they predicted NE winds). We had farily pleasant SE winds and were once again able to motorsail with the jib and make good time to Miami. We entered at Biscayne Channel and went to Miamarina in downtown Miami. This is the same place we spent Christmas eve during our ICW trip in 2003. Got some chores done on the boat while we were here - laundry, fill water tanks and fixed a small tear in the jib. Now it's time to head out to an anchorage and then up to Ft. Lauderdale. Time to wait for our weather window for Bahamas!

4/9/08 - Key Biscayne:

After two nights at Miamarina it was time to get back on the hook. We motored down to Crandon Marina on Key Biscayne and filled up the fuel tanks ($3.91/gal) and then continued on to No Name harbor in the Cape Florida state park. Spent a quiet night at anchor, even went for a swim and scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy.

4/10/08 - Bridge Hell!

Seems we didn't learn our lesson on the previous trip. The weather for the atlantic was for NE breezy conditions so we decided to take the intracoastal route from Miami to Ft. Lauderdale - big mistake. The route included eleven drawbridges, most of which had scheduled openings (every 1/2 hour) that made it impossible for us to catch at the right time. On top of that, the idiots that have boats over here have no idea about right of way or even common courtesy - small power boats just zoom through the center of the channel under the bridge that's just opening for us (after we've been hovering there for 30 minutes) not even realizing that we need to go down the center because of the 55 foot mast on our boat - duh! Then they give you a friendly wave as if nothing is wrong. After 11 of these, I vow never to do it again - even if it's blowing a hurricane out there.

Settled in at Las Olas Marina and found a bar.

4/12/08 - Faith in NOAA:

Been waiting for the wind and waves to cooperate for crossing to West End. Might have gone this morning but decided to wait until Sun am for waves to drop a bit in the Gulf Stream. There is a front coming from the NW however that may make that decision a bad one. As it is, it looks like we'll be stuck in West End until the end of the week waiting for the next weather window to get to the Abacos. Won't get much sleep tonight. Wish this was easier

4/13/08 - The Eagle (or Kokopelli) has landed!

Greetings from Grand Bahama Island! Believing all the forecasts, we went to bed early and awoke at 1:00am, got the boat ready, made coffee, dug out the life jackets, etc. and made for the entrance to Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale). Got to the outer bouy at about 3am and off we went toward the Bahamas. At the start, the winds were light but after about 2 hours into the trip, we began to see a slight W-NW shift (this wasn't supposed to occur until late Sunday). Still, the seas were not bad and we kept on, occasionally using the radar to track and avoid cruise ships and freighters in the night.

As we approached the middle of the Gulf Stream (approximated), the wind seemed to pick up and go more NW. We also heard radio reports of thunderstorms coming toward us from the SW. At this point, we are getting a 2 1/2 knot push from the Gulf Stream toward the NE and turning around would have been even worse, so we slogged ahead. As it turned out, none of the storms came our way but the seas became very confused with swells and waves from many directions. It was kind of like a washing machine. Not comfortable but not dangerous. It was nice to have the sun come up and be able to see the water and clouds all around (not to mention the ships passing).

After about 8 hours of open ocean, it was nice to see land and get into protected waters at West End. Once we arrived, the sun came out and the water turned a beautiful shade of light blue. Time to crack a beer and celebrate our first Gulf crossing.

Dawn in the Gulf Stream - Mid way!	Navigating the Gulf Stream - playing the currents
One of many avoided during the trip (mostly at night!)	First Bahama Beer!

04/15/08 -"Stuck" in West End:

Well, the weather is continuing to be uncooperative. Last night (and probably until at least Wed.) the winds picked up to 25+kts from the NW. Looks like we are "stuck" at Old Bahama Bay resort/marina. If you have to be stuck somewhere, this isn't a bad place (though it can put a dent in one's cruising budget over time). There is a nice beach, a pool, complimentary toys (kayaks, bikes, snorkle gear, etc.) and a couple of nice bars and restaurants. The water is a beautiful clear blue (though at the moment it's a bit rough). Yesterday Betsy "forced" me to take a rather long bike ride into the local village (and beyond). It was a nice ride until we had to turn around and go into the building breeze. Thank goodness there was a local sports bar along the way that had cold hydration fluids (read water & beer). While we were recovering there, Betsy ran into a doctor (Charlie) that works in her hospital and a medical device rep (Toby) that also deals with Healthpark (small world). They were here with their families. We later shared some beverages and some very good conch fritters on the boat they brought over. Like I said, not a bad place to be stuck....

Toby & Charlie (and Cap'n Gumby)

4/16/08 - Rock n Roll:

Imagine trying to sleep in a washing machine on agitate and then throw in a dryer load of shoes next to your head. That kind of describes last night. The wind was howling all day yesterday here at West End but it really picked up to gusts over 30kts during the night. Kokopelli Too was rockin and rollin at the dock. Between the slapping of the rigging, the squeaking of the tortured fenders being sqeezed against the pier, the slapping of the waves against the stern of the boat and the bumping of the dinghy against the hull - well let's just say sleep did not come in abundance. Should have made the rum drinks stronger.

The forecast is continued high winds here until at least Thurs night. I think Betsy has another torture trip (I mean bike ride) planned for me today. (author's update - bike ride cancelled due to laundry chores).

Some of our fellow prisoners here (I mean fellow travellers) are gathering for a little discussion of the weather and plans for escaping (I mean leaving ). It also seems like an excuse to drink. I have no problems with this....

4/18/08 - Escape!

The weather gods finally cooperated and we left the marina at Old Bahama Bay at 7:30am and headed across the Little Bahama Bank in the company of three other boats from the marina. Using the waypoints listed in Steve Dodge's Abacos cruising guide, we entered the Indian Rock channel with plenty of water below the keel and carefully followed the course to Mangrove Cay and then to Great Sale Cay. Our fellow travellers seemed to want to sail but we decided to motorsail and get to a strange (for us ) anchrage with plenty of time to scope it out. For the most part, the wind was from due East so sailing was not a long term prospect. The sky was overcast for most of the trip and reading the water was not as easy as in the book (who's pictures were all taken in bright sunshine). We didn't run into any problems and arrived at the Great Sale Cay anchorage a little before 4pm and anchored in 7+ft of water. Molly was very happy when we shut down the engine and relaxed in the cockpit. the other boats that left with us arrived at the anchorage a little before 6pm.

4/21/08 - Progress report....

Spent an extra day anchored in Great Sale Cay. Took the dinghy out and explored the little beach on the other side of the island along with the ruins of an old US missle tracking station. We were also invited over to "Liberty", one of the boats from West End, for cocktails and appetizers. The Gohikes (Dave, Nanacy, Chris & Josh) are at the start of a three year cruise on their Morgan 41. We had a nice visit with them. The next day, both boats left and headed to Allen's Pensicola Cay. It was also Dave's birthday so Betsy & I sang Happy Birthday to him as we motored past.

It was not a sailing day to APC. The wind was on our nose and very light. We arrived early afternoon and anchored. The water was so clear that we could see our anchor set on the bottom. Went for a quick swim around the boat. We were once again invited over to "Liberty" to toast Dave's birthday. We were joined by two of the other boats in the anchorage (also from the West End escape group). Betsy and I returned to the boat and made beef stew using canned roast beef and leftover veggies (not as bad as it sounds actually).

Our original plan to hang out here for another day went away by morning because the winds piped up from the SW and made the anchorage a bit too rough. We called Green Turtle Club in White Sound and lined up a slip for a few days. We had a beautiful sail al the way to Green Turtle Cay in 10-15kts (gusts to 20) from the SW. We arrived in White Sound and tied up at the slip by 3pm. Ran into Bill from another West End boat "Indemnity" at the dock.

4/22/08 - Green Turtle Cay

We've rented a golf cart during our stay in Green Turtle Cay. It's the best way to get around here. The anchorage in White Sound is at the far end of the island from the main town of New Plymouth and it's about a 20 minute ride away. We went into town yesterday evening and watched sunset at "Sundowner's" and then met up with Bill & Cathy from Indemnity for dinner at "Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar". It claims to be the place where the Gombay Smash cocktail was invented, so of course we had to all order one. The ride back to the marina in the dark was interesting. There are no street lights and the headlights on the carts are not real strong - good thing we only had one Gombay Smash....

Today was a shopping trip into town (water, snacks and fresh veggies) and a lunch stop at "Laura's Kitchen". Later we went back into town to scout out the cheapest case of beer (so far it's $48 for Bud Light) and then we went to "Pineapple's for happy hour, visited Sundowner's again (Say Hi to Brian and Pamela) and then back to Green Turtle Club marina.

4/23/08 - small world syndrome:

We decided that today would be our last full day in Green Tirtle Cay, so we filled the water tanks (at .45/ per gallon), went to the local library to exchange books (found one), did some final provisioning (case of beer at $48) and then turned in the golf cart (saved a day and paid for the beer!). Once back to the marina, we invited our dockmates Henry & Lynn off "Tiger Lily" (from Newport) over to our boat for drinks. Betsy & I noticed that Henry was wearing an Etchells shirt so we had to ask if he knew Wiley & Barbara Crockett - "Of course!" he says. "I was just at a meeting at their house before we left on this cruise!". Damn - it's a small world. Also, our other good neighbor at the dock, Walt on "Wolverine" brought over some great fresh yellow eyed snapper bites that he fried up on the boat....yumm.

As I write this, the "Best damn band in the world" is playing at the marina. gonna be a late night....

4/24/08 - I thought this was a foreign country...

But we seem to keep running into people from old neighborhoods. We motored briefly from Green Turtle Cay today up to a very pretty anchorage in Majack Cay. There we found our friends from "Liberty" anchored and then met another couple Sid & Gail from Weymouth, MA (we spied their burgee from Wessagusett YC and they spied the Hull, MA on our transom). After we got anchored, we took the dinghy around for a quick tour. Hopefully the NE wind will die down tomorrow (it's gusting to 20) so we can explore the Atlantic side of the island. There are supposed to be some great beaches and reefs to snorkle. As I write this, a small sailboat from Canada has pulled into the anchorage with their headstay furler blowing behind them, a torn jib and a spare halyard holding the rig up.

Kokopelli Too at anchor in Manjack Cay with her riding sail from Allerton Harbor Canvas - Thanks Jay, it works great!

04/25/08 - Another day in paradise:

Today was exploration day. First was a dinghy ride to the beach and a walk across the island to the Atlantic side where the surf was up do to the NE winds blowing the last three days. Then back to the boat for lunch, followed by a dinghy trip to the north end of the island to explore the beaches at that end. Then it was back for a swim at the beach where the boat was anchored. This is really a pretty island.

A quick note about Manjack Cay: the owners of the house here at the anchorage are extremely generous to cruisers. They offer free wireless internet access to boats here, they have created and maintained all of these walking paths all over the island, they have set up a cute dinghy tie-up at the beach with a tiki hut roof and swing seats. Unfortunately they were not home while we were here but we met the property caretaker. It's a breath of fresh air to have property owners that welcome cruisers and don't make you feel like trespassers (i.e. Marco Island and all other cities with similar outlooks).

04/27/08 - Whale Cay Pass:

Yesterday was another exploration day. We dinghied up a mangrove lined canal on Manjack Cay that you can only get into during high tide. Then we visited the beaches on the south side of the island and picked up some nice shells and saw some baby sea turtles.

Today we hauled anchor and decided to try getting through Whale Cay pass. This is one of the more potentialy dangerous passes here given the wrong weather conditions. Entire sections of the local weather report and local cruisers radio net are given to conditions in this passage. Up until today, it has been a bit iffy. Today it was not too bad: 3-5 foot swells with some chop mixed in. It took us about an hour to get through the worst part and then we were safely in the southern half of the Abacos. We grabbed a mooring in Fishers Bay on Great Guana Cay. After putting the boat to bed, we headed into shore and visited the local watering holes; Grabbers for lunch and then Nippers. Met a few interesting folks, including a former resident of Sanibel who now lives here. Then it was back to the boat for dinner.

04/28/08 - Sea Beans, Sea Beans..

Ever since Betsy read about the Sea Beans that wash up on the beaches here and are collected by people, she has been, well, obsessed with finding one. Every beach walk turns into a hunt for sea beans (seeds that float across the Atlantic and wash up on shore here and along the coasts everywhere). Today we finally succeeded! We went for a long walk along the beach near Nipper's here on Guana Cay. Along the way, I spotted an object in the sand which turned out to be a "hamburger" sea bean (so named because it resembles a hamburger). It has now been added to her growing collection of shells, etc.

4/29/08 - In the big city:

Today is Betsy's birthday! We motorsailed our way upwind to the big city here in the Abacos, Marsh Harbour. Time to reprovision, refill the propane tank, hide from the front passing through tonight. Also wanted to get the boat on shore power to get the batteries good and recharged. Got a slip at the Conch Inn Marina (also home to the Moorings charter fleet). We were here about 6 years ago chartering a boat. It was interesting to come back on our own boat. The folks here seemed a little more friendly & helpful when we were Moorings customers.

We went exploring a bit and found a nice little waterfront bar called "Snappas". Came back later on for birthday dinner.

4/30/08 - Work, work, work...

Today was shopping, cleaning, laundry & propane day. We first walked to one of the local hardware stores and dropped off a propane tank for refill (pick up at 4pm) and then to one of the supermarkets (Price Right) and found a pretty good selection of fresh produce and other items that were priced reasonably well for down here. Then we caled for a taxi and stopped at one of the local liquor stores for beer refill (not so reasonable). later it was time to wash the boat and refill the water tanks. After lunch, Betsy was off to the laundromat. And you thought this was all fun and glamour!

5/2/08 - Even paradise has it's issues: (and it's usually people related)

There is a terrific cruisers' net on the VHF radio each morning down here that informs all the boaters about weather, conditions in each of the ocean passes, what's going on around the islands and even handles emergency messages for boaters. It's really a great help. On wednesday morning we listened in as one of our recent friends we met on this cruise relayed that their dinghy had been stolen in Marsh Harbor during the night. Of course the first reaction from some of the long timers here was "you must not have tied it well and it blew away". Our friend Bill informed the listeners that he had tied it very well. Luckily the local police force located the dinghy under a porch within a couple of hours and it was returned to Bill & Cathy safely (along with fingerprint dust). Gee - do you think they knew where to look? Needless to say, Betsy & I were thrilled and brought them a bottle of rum to celebrate (unfortunately for me, Bill decided to open it that night and share......next morning was not fun...)

On thursday, Betsy & I left Marsh Harbor and headed down to Little Harbor at the bottom end of the Abacos. The winds were blowing from the NNE at about 20kts and it made for a lumpy ride down. Fortunately, the tide was high enough to get in when we arrived and we beat the rush of boats and got a mooring in the harbor. We were looking forward to spending at least two or three days here exploring (if the winds would just calm down we could actually do some snorkeling at the nearby reefs). We were also greeted by a couple of dolphin that swam under and around the boat while we were picking up the mooring here.

And then came the Italian invasion! Earlier in the week we had seen two chartered catamarans with flags flying and company logos stuck all over the boats and chatting loudly in italian. Now we were surrounded by them! Each one grabbed a mooring on either side of ours. It made for an interesting time at the local bar (Pete's Pub) when they all came in and began trying to order drinks. It was less fun when they returned to their boats later that night and decided to fill the harbor with loud disco music until midnight. Thankfully they have left this morning. We'll see what comes in later to replace them. Meanwhile, it's time to do some exploring and visit the local sculpture studio.

5/9/08 - update:

We ended up spending four days in Little Habor. Most of the time it was very quiet due to very windy conditions that kept the other cruising boats away. After four days, it was time to move on. We went back up north to an anchorage off Lubbers Quarters near where Betsy's sister would be renting a house to see how it might work. Then the next day we moved up to Tahaiti Beach, a beautiful little beach off Elbow Cay. We spent the day walking the soft sand and shelling (until Betsy stubbed her toe on some coral and removed a toenail..). The next day we moved back to the anchorage near the south end of Lubbers Quarters so that when Betsy's sister Suzi and her husband Boomer arrived, we would be close. After some issues with their rental boat, they showed up at our boat and had a welcome beer and then we went over to check out their rental house on Lubbers Quarters (http://www.abacopinkpalmcottage.com/ ).

We decided that the boat needed to move to a mooring if we were going to be doing any long trips on the power boat, so we moved into Hopetown Harbor for a few days. Today the four of us attempted to make a run down to Little Harbor for the day and maybe do some snorkeling at Sandy Cay but the water was a bit too rough. We turned around and anchored at Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay. A very curious stingray came by a few times (see pic gallery) to check us out.

5/10/08 - Chores:

Today is fuel top off, buy drinking water, do laundry day. We also need to look into a slip for a night so we can top off water tanks and plug into shore power for a day.

5/14/08 - Bingo!

Got ourselves a slip at Hopetown Marina, filled the water tanks (took a while because the water pressure here is none too good) and got plugged into shore power (which due to power failures in Hopetown was a bit spotty the first day). We met up with Suzi & Boomer each day. Most days they came by in their rental boat to pick us up and go to Tahiti beach for a swim and then maybe go to Cracker P's for lunch or come back to Hopetown for happy hour.

Monday was avery breezy day, so we rented a golf cart and met Suzi & Boomer down at the Sea Spray marina in White Sound (which is a shorter ride from their house on Lubbers Quarter) and then did a driving tour of Elbow Cay. That evening after they had headed back home, Betsy & I went over to Cap'n Jacks for a beer and a snack. It turned out to be "Bingo" night (Only here they called it "Jacks"). So of course we had to stay and play. The pots were averaging about $130 each game but we didn't manage to win any.

Yesterday we were finally able to get a fairly decent boating day and took a ride to Man-O-War Cay. We walked around the town and visited the Albury boat yard and some of the other local shops. Then we ran up to Guana Cay where we saw two very large sting rays cruising under the public dock as we arrived. We then walked over to Grabber's and meet up with "Flying Dog's" Dave, a friend of Boomer's from back on Sanibel. Dave showed us the gorgeous house that he's been building on the water on Guana Cay for the last 10 years. We were all jealous.

This morning Boomer & Suzi dropped by Hopetown to dump trash off at the public trash pickup spot (Mon,Wed & Fri 8:30-9:30) and then came by the boat for coffee and to drop off some leftover supplies they had. Today is their last full day here (and of course the weather is too windy to do much). They fly out tomorrow afternoon. It will be strange not having them around. We are planning to move back out to a mooring today as soon as one becomes vacant.

5/15/08 - Time Flies...

Can't believe that it's been a week already since Boomer & Suzi arrived. They stopped by the boat this morning on their way to Marsh Harbor to catch their flight home. We'll miss seeing them every day. They were kind enough to drop off their left over supplies to add to our stocks. The time just flew by. I wish that the weather had been more cooperative while they were here so they could have visited more of the other islands. Maybe next year.......

Well, it the 15th of May and it's time to start planning the trip back to the US. Looks like we'll head back to Marsh Harbor to do some maintenance chores (oil change) before we begin heading back to the north end of Abaco and then back west to Florida by the end of the month. Time to keep an eye on the weather windows.

The "Bahamas Lighthouse Preservation Society" is in the process of repainting the famous red & white striped Hopetown Lighthouse. You can see some of the images in the photo gallery. It will be closed to public tours until early June.

5/18/08 - Marsh Harbour:

We waited an extra day in Hopetown so that we could meet up with some friends that we met along the way (Bill & Kathy from Indemnity). They had just returned from a side trip to Nassau for four days. We spent the day (and evening) catching up and then saying good bye once again. They are headed further south to the Exumas and we must beginheading back north and west. We hope to keep in touch.

Next day it was back to Marsh Harbor. On Bill's recommendation, we got a slip at Marsh Harbour Marina which is on the opposite side of the harbor from all the other marinas and downtown. This must explain the difference in attitudes. Here they were very friendly and helpful wheras our previous trip to the Conch Inn Marina was just the opposite. The facilities here are also much nicer and the rates are cheaper (for BoatUS members). Once we were settled in at the slip, it was time to do the oil change we were due for and then dinghy into town to drop of the waste oil. This was another rude awakening to the differences of this town to the other, smaller islands: at the public dinghy dock there were two small kids panhandling. Betsy refused to pay them anything so we thought it best to have her stay with the dinghy while I dropped off the oil and then got some supplies. Turned out for the best because when I returned, the kids had been replaced by an adult trying to hit folks up for money. From now on, we'll use one of the restaurant docks and buy a beer as payment before putting up with that headache again. I think the sooner we get out of here, the better.

Once back at the marina, it was "Steak night" at the small restaurant here (the Jib Room). Since they only do dinner two times a week, this is a big deal. Betsy & I had already had a late lunch so we went down for drinks and chatted with some fellow cruisers for a while, then headed back to the boat.

Last night Betsy found out via email that she is once again a great aunt. Her nephew Mike and his wife Melody had another baby girl (Madison Jolet) - 5lbs 9oz and everyone is fine. Yeah!

Today it was a walk into town (about 2 miles) to do some food shopping and then taxi back ($6). Then wash the deck and fill the water tanks. Unfortunately our Walmart RV water filter that we use on the hose that was supposed to be good for 3 months has already clogged up after a month and a half. Haven't been able to find a replacement yet so we strained the marina water through a cloth and added bleach to the water this time just in case it has some sediment. Anyway, once those sweaty chores were done, it was into the pool here to cool off. Now we have to decide when to leave and where to go next.

5/19/08 - Bad Pennies:

Last night Betsy & I were sitting in the cockpit talking to our neighbor John (on the trawler Liberty) about things when all of a sudden Betsy turns and says "I think that's Bill & Kathy". I reply that it can't be because they are supposed to be in Man-O-War Cay. Sure enough though, there they are in their dinghy heading our way. Kathy shouts something about bad pennies never go away..or something like that. Turns out that it wasn't a good day for Man-O-War (not much open on Sunday) so they came to Marsh Harbor. We had a great night sitting in the cockpit and chatting. Kathy sent Bill back to the boat for some supplies and then proceeded to cook a delicious dinner in our galley (we did provide snacks - big deal).

This morning we went in by dinghy to the Moorings base and had breakfast and then a quick trip to the hardware store to find a water filter (no luck). Then we checked out of the marina and said good bye to John. We motorsailed through Whale Cay pass and anchored in White Sound in Green Turtle Cay.

5/22/08 - Weather or not:

The weather has not been too cooperative with us while we've been here. The winter fronts that should have abated by now have continued to come though about once a week (or more), stirring up the seas and basically dictating our itinerary. Visions of snorkleing the reefs and anchoring off quiet beaches have been replaced by reading charts and finding protected harbors from whatever wind direction is coming up next. You listen to the weather forecasts and make plans and then the "real" weather comes along and it's not what was predicted and you cancel one plan and make another.

We arrived in White Sound in Green Turtle Cay and anchored near the Green Turtle Club. We set the anchor, reversed the engine hard to dig it in. We then spent the night at that spot. Come morning, a squall decides to pass over the anchorage. No problem, we're securely anchored I think. Then during one good puff we notice that the boat is heading sideways for the mangroves about 50 yards away. So we start the engine, motor up on the anchor and haul it up. Along with the anchor comes up about a golf course worth of grass. Seems that was all that was holding us last night. We motor around and find a sandy spot in the harbor and drop the anchor but it won't catch. Seems it now wants to drop in upside down. While Betsy drives, I tie a foam beer holder to the top of the anchor to create some drag and flip it over as it drops. This seems to work and we finally get set. We then swim over the anchor and make sure it's set in the sand this time. No problems for three days now.

While we have been here, we have again run into our friend Bob from MA on his Hunter 42 (Pecadillo) and met his pet macaw "Yogi". We have had some great conversations with Debbie the bartender at the Green Turtle Club for the last 26 years or so. We found out that she recently won the prestigious Cacique Award which is the highest award given in the Bahamas for work in the tourist industry. It's kind of like the academy awards in the Bahamas. Betsy got her dancing fix last night when the Gully Roosters played here. Today we finally got in some snorkeling at gorgeous Bit Bay.

Now we sit and check the weather, watching an approaching cold front to see what it will do. We wanted to explore some of the other islands north of here before heading back to West End and then across the Gulf Stream but none of them have good anchorages in this current wind direction (SW) and they are also labeled as good only in settled weather which is not what these fronts have been bringing. Right now it looks like we stay here until it passes and then make our way back to West End by mid next week and cross over as soon as possible to FL.

5/25/08 - Wimps:

We've come to the painful (or comfortable) conclusion that we are not "True Cruisers". We do not like to anchor out in bad weather, preferring to find the nearest protected harbor or even better, a nice marina to tie up to if mother nature is going to throw us some nasty stuff.

In this case, we set off from Green Turtle Cay to a nearby island called Powell Cay (because we had spent too many days at Green Turtle Cay and we were getting stir crazy). Powell was a nice, scenic anchorage but it was also wide open to the SW. Which of course was the direction that the wind decided to switch to the next day and pick up to about 20+ kts. This turned a nice, peaceful anchorage into a bit of a roller coaster. This combined with a forecast of even worse weather made us call the nearby marina on Spanish Cay for a slip - and off we went.

Spanish Cay is a privately owned island that has it's own airstrip, marina and resort. You can only visit it if you are staying in one of their houses or at the marina (though many yachts come here to clear customs and then move on). It isn't cheap but in this case it was worth the expense. Just after we arrived, the thunderstorms began rolling in bringing buckets of rain, lots of lightning and high winds. Much easier to handle when you are sitting on the deck of a bar with a beer and your boat is tied up at a slip than rocking and rolling at anchor (like our friend Bob was). Unfortunately the bonfire scheduled for that night had to be canceled because of the rain - boo.

The next day Betsy & I explored the island by foot. We walked down to the other end where the 5000ft runway is and then back to the pool for a dip. We met Dave owner who also owns Richmond Yachts in Vancouver (Dave has some money). Tonight they have scheduled some fireworks for Memorial Day. Hopefully Betsy & I can stay awake for them (they're after 9pm you know....)

5/26/08 - Waiting, waiting...

Watched a nice fireworks show last night and then spent the rest of the evening people watching. Very interesting crowd here at Spanish Cay.

Looks like we'll spend another day here. Small craft warnings today. Hope to make it to Great Sale Cay tomorrow and then to West End.....

05/28/08 - Heading West.....

Yesterday we left the pricey Spanish Cay and made the 45 mile slog to Great Sale Cay in 20+ knots of wind. Thankfully it was from behind us and other than some rolling now and then, it didn't seem too windy (until of course we had to head upwind into the anchorage!). We dropped the hook and it caught immediatley in the mud bottom of Great Sale - all set for the night. We check in with our friend Bob on Pecadillo and decided on a time to depart for West End in the morning. He later dropped by for cocktails and presented Betsy with a beautiful conch shell that he had caught and cleaned.

Today we hauled anchor around 8am and began another approx 45 mile trip to West End on Grand Bahama. The wind was from dead astern at about 10 knots to start so Betsy & I decided to finally drag out the cruising chute for the first time this trip. After some fumbling around we managed to get it up and flying. We still had to motor but it did give us an extra knot or two of speed. After about 25 miles or so, the wind picked up but so did the rollers and the chute became to unstable so we took it down and rolled out the jib. We arrived at West End at the Old Bahama Bay marina about 4pm. Our friend Bob arrived a bit later and we all went to the bar for a beer and dinner. Looks like tomorrow is a day of rest, laundry, refilling water and fuel and then Gulf crossing on Friday.

(Kokopelli Too flying her cruising chute across Little Bahama Bank - photo by Bob Landry)

05/30/08 - Back in the US:

Up with the birds this morning and off the dock at West End by 6:30am. The NOAA forecast was for east winds around 15 knots (now I know that "around" translates as "at least"). The seas were pretty flat leaving the marina and out into the Atlantic near Grand Bahama. Just enough to give us a false sense of security. By the time we were about 10 miles out the swells had built to 4 feet and then the occasional 6 footer just of the stern of the boat so we were rolling back and forth even with the jib out. My plan was to head south of our course to Fort Lauderdale before we hit the gulf stream current. We were doing pretty good AND THEN THE COAST GUARD CAME ALONG!

I still am at a loss as to why the coast guard is performing "safety inspections" on vessels 40 miles out to sea returning to the US. First of all, if you made it across to the bahamas in the first place and are now headed back, you are probably a pretty safe vessel. Second, where is the safe part in performing a boarding of a vessel in thousands of feet of water, in the middle of nowhere in 6 foot rollers? These should be conducted in local waters or at marinas and boat ramps before a boat even goes anywhere. Needless to say, we had all the correct equipment (and then some) and after about 30 minutes, we were back on our way - oh wait, then they decided to also board we boat we were traveling along with. This meant another hour waiting for them to get to him and do the inspection. During all this time, our boats are drifting north in the gulf stream and losing all that southerly distance we made. By the time we got to the other coast, we were off Boca Raton about 20 miles north of our destination and had to sail down the coast to the entrance to Ft. Lauderdale.

Along the way down to Ft. L we heard a call on the radio - "Greg! You're sailing right by us!". After looking around we see a large powerboat heading north along the coast. It turns out that our good friend Wiley Crockett is onboard. He was helping to deliver the boat north with the owner Bob Wesson. Small ocean huh? I called him on our now working cell phone and chatted for a bit while we continued to roll our way south to Ft. Lauderdale. We got there about 6:30pm and made our way to Las Olas Marina and picked up a mooring at 7pm. Then it was time to call the US Customs office and report in. This was our first time using the "local boater option" that allowed you to clear in over the phone and give them your preassigned identification numbers (these were obtained before we left on the trip). After five minutes on the phone we were all checked in and given a "clear in number". Much better than having to appear somewhere in person!

Oh, I forgot to mention that Betsy convinced one of the coast guard boarding party to pose with Gumby....

06/01/08 - I wanna go to Miami...

After two nights in Fort LaunderMoney (I mean Fort Lauderdale), it was time to move on. We got some provisioning done at the nearest Publix. It was so nice to pay $19 for a case of Bud Light again instead of the $48 - $55 we had been paying in the Bahamas! I had my great steak and cheese sandwich at the Quarterdeck restaurant that I had been thinking about since I got here (we also had their great steamed clams in butter & wine..mmmmmm). Our friend Bob on Pecadillo evidently also had a good time - he went out to the beach area and ran into a couple of nurses on vacation and had dinner and listened to music until well after we got back to our boat. After our run into Wiley Crockett and Bob Wesson on the water the day before, we decided to try a visit with Sue Wesson at her home on one of the canals in Ft. Lauderdale. We took the dinghy on a tour and gave her a ring on the cell phone. She directed us to her house and we had a beer and chatted for a while.

Today we made our way down the coast to Miami. The NOAA forecast was for a nice east breeze but of course it turned out to be very SSE and on the nose so we motored along in swells. Then our traveling companion Bob ran out of fuel about 8 miles from Miami. Luckily he had another 5 gal can that he put in and restarted his engine. We arrive at the Gov't Cut entrance to Miami and made our way around to the Crandon Park marina on Key Biscayne for fuel. Betsy inquired about moorings there and they hade a couple available. We took them instead of chancing it at No Name harbor. Tomorrow we head down the keys.

06/06/08 - Go Celtics!

Left Key Biscayne for Rodriguez Key on the 2nd. Unlike the last visit there, this time we didn't get any squalls. We even got there early enough to go for a swim off the boat and cool off. The next day it was up early and head to Marathon. We arrived there about 3pm, picked up fuel and then a city mooring. Things were a lot quieter here than back in April.

After a couple of days in Marathon, it was more than time to head on down to Key West. Some of the long term residents of Boot Key Harbor are a little strange. The forecast was for the wind to be 15-20 and increasing over the next couple of days so we had to get going or be trapped here. We were at the drawbridge at 7:30 and on our way to KW (note: Boot Key harbor has the nicest drawbridge operator we have ever talked to). We didn't have much company out on the water, just a few boats heading north. We arrived in Key West at about 2pm and pulled into a slip at Conch Harbor Marina near the Key West Ferry terminal.

After a dip in the marina pool to cool off and then a shower, it was time to hit the town. First we went to Alonzo's for their happy hour special (half price appetizers & drinks). Then it was off to Hogsbreath to listen to some music and from there to Irish Kevin's for more music. Irish Kevin's has really talented musicians but the beer prices there reminded us of the Abacos so we didn't stay too long. On our way back to the boat we walked by a new sports bar (The Sports Page) and realized that the first game of the NBA finals was about to start with the Celtics vs Lakers so of course we had to stop in a watch some of it. We struck up a conversation with a Navy P3 Orion pilot sitting next to us. We made it to halftime in the game before we had to head back to the boat. (PS - Celtics win game one 98-88).

Did I mention that it's hot here! Some days I wish we had A/C on this boat......

06/08/08 - Feelin hot, hot, hot...

Never thought I'd miss the weather in the Abacos but it is positivley sweltering here. Lately it seems that our touring of Key West involves finding the places with the best air conditioning - and this includes even clothing stores. The worst part is that reports are that it's even hotter back in Ft. Myers. I hope the house A/C is still working. Even so, it's always fun to come to Key West. Even with the heat, I'm glad we stopped here.

Highlites: Alonzo's (happy hour), The Sports Page (happy hour, good sports tv & good pizza), The RoofTop Cafe (nice place), Louis Backyard (Bloody Mary's).

06/10/08 - Full Circle:

Well, Kokopelli Too is back home in her slip and we are back home in our house. After a very long day from Key West to Marco Island and a shorter, but hotter, day from Marco Island to Cape Coral, it was nice to get back to an air conditioned house. Betsy's sister Jonna met us at the dock with some cold beers (thanks Jonna). We got most of our stuff packed into the car, coaxed Molly into her cat carrier and headed home. It was interesting to drive a car after 9 weeks where the only thing I drove was a golf cart and that was on the wrong side of the road. I see the drivers here have not improved since I left...

It was a great trip all in all. Even if the weather didn't always cooperate, even with the outrageous prices for some things and even with some of the long days on the water, it was a great trip. Hopefully we can get away again some time soon and explore more of the islands in the Bahamas.

Hope you all enjoyed the log and the pictures.

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Bahamas Cruise Track
(see photo gallery for trip photos)

Route To/From Abacos

Abaco Track