December 8, 2009.

We did a little of the whole “hunter / gathering” thing today.

After breakfast we were in the dink and on the way into town. We headed straight to the bakery where we were able to score some jelly doughnuts, cinnamon swirls and a pair of the rare but highly prized coconut logs.


We did stop in at both grocery stores but only picked up some cabbage and the islands version of Wonder Bread. I had the diesel jugs in the dink so while Christy shopped I made an effort to jug some fuel.

I plopped my jugs down and the attendant put in about 4 gallons when the pump ran dry. Crap. It’s not uncommon for the service stations here to run out of fuel and today turned out to be the day. The attendant was sure they would be getting more fuel later in the afternoon so I guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

After getting back to the boat we headed out to do some more snorkeling. We saw some decent Hogfish and watched in despair as they dove into the deep caves that line the fishing grounds here. So we ended up making a long, very enjoyable swim with nothing to show for it.

On the surface it looks as if it should be a disappointing day. No fish, a smattering of diesel but we got doughnuts baby, so today averages out as spectacular.

December 7, 2009.

It’s actually been pretty hot here with humidity near 85%. We had planned to walk town and hit the grocery store, the bakery and maybe jug a little diesel to top off the tanks. But at 10:00 it was already 85 degrees with that oppressive humidity so we changed the days itinerary to swimming. Yeah.

We loaded up the snorkeling stuff and headed out for a nearby large rock wall. There are no real coral heads here but a limestone rock wall runs along the shore for over a mile. There are numerous chunks of stone the size of railway cars submerged just under the surface and the wall has been undercut into a series of caves by the pounding of the sea.

The baitfish were so plentiful that at times you couldn’t see more than a few feet. I discovered a few things today. First, I rediscovered the fact that everything looks bigger underwater. The way I remembered this was by shooting a Hogfish. Unfortunately, once he was impaled by my spear I realized that he was only big enough to make a sandwich. A small sandwich desperately in need of a side order. Damn.

The second thing I learned was that my conscience is still intact. The only lobster I saw today were 2 undersized babies. One was so small he would have been nice in an aquarium while the other was close, but just to small. So I left em’ to grow……

The third thing I learned is that I need to get back into the swing. The water seemed deeper, the fish faster and me a bit slower. Crap.

We saw more than 50 undersized grouper and a few really nice ones but we were unable to corner them. The caves in the wall are cut into the rock in such a manner that there’s no way you’re getting a shot once the fish has dodged inside. On the bright side was that I only encountered 2 lionfish so I dispatched both of them. I did get to swim with a school of forty barracuda that shadowed me for 10 minutes. Christy even drove the dink right into their midst and they just moved along with me in spite of the dinghies presence.




We were back at the boat by 1400 hours and after lunch the weather changed dramatically. Big ugly thunderheads rolled in and rain was obviously falling in several areas around us. The rain never did find us and the best part was that we got to enjoy a great double rainbow.

December 6, 2009.

The front came through last night and the wind finally changed directions for us. It’s been blowing from the south for days so now with a bit of a northerly we set off for Current Cut. We left Royal Island at 0700 for the 8 mile trip down to the Cut.

We timed the cut perfectly and had a 3 ½ knot push as we rocketed through the narrow gap in the north end of Eleuthera. Once through to the other side we were hit by a quick rain squall. It poured long enough for us to get everything closed up and then the sun popped back out.

As we sailed south the wind slowly died and we had to finish the last 2 hours of the trip under power. We believe we had a first today. Neither one of us ever remembers seeing a dolphin here in the Bahamas. We saw a pair of huge dolphin today, that were easily 8 or 9 feet long. They were very skittish and only stayed in the bow wake long enough for me to grab the camera. Maybe the locals eat them? I dunno. I’m really surprised that they’re not more common down here. Two slices of coconut bread and a fillet of Flipper would probably make a damn fine sammich.

We have the anchorage to ourselves tonight but we know there are several boats only a day or so behind us.
A couple of the boats have never been here before so it’ll be fun to act as tour guides and watch as they experience Eleuthera for the first time. I just have to make sure that we get to the bakery before they get here. It’s a big country but there are only so many chances to grab some jelly doughnuts.

December 4, 2009.

The weather gods smiled upon us. On Thursday the winds were supposed to moderate to 15 knots outta the south and to dwindle even further as the afternoon wore on.

We discussed our options with the Solitaires and came up with a reasonable plan. If the wind and seas were indeed down when morning came we would sail off to Eleuthera in the east. If it was still uncomfortable in the morning we would leave at noon and motor the 10 miles straight into the afternoons dying wind and head into either Devils/ Hoffman or Adler Cays.

Imagine our surprise when morning came and Solitaire said they were having an issue with their batteries and decided to motor straight into the wind for the 50 mile trip to Nassau. Planning on a sailboat is pretty hard to do and when trying to formulate a plan for 2 or more…..lets just say herding cats would be easier.

There was no way we were going to motor into the wind and seas all the way to Nassau. Not to mention the fact that Nassau pretty much sucks. We know they weren’t going because they wanted to, but it came as such a shock we just couldn’t bring ourselves to head south with them. The wind was from the south at 15 so we bade adieu to Solitaire and sailed east for Royal Island, Eleuthera.

It was a long splendid day of sailing. Maybe, a perfect day. We were reaching along with Rover driving while Christy and I took turns sunning ourselves on the aft deck. It was glorious. We trailed several different lures during the day in an effort to catch a Mahi-Mahi which roam these deep waters. We did have 2 strikes during the day which only resulted in our lures getting beat up a bit. We did hear a boat named Osprey land a 38 pound Mahi just a few miles ahead of us. So maybe the day could have been better, but not much.

We pulled into the anchorage at Royal Island just as darkness fell. We anchored among a half dozen other boats that were already lying at anchor in the very protected harbor.

December 2, 2009.

This is by far the earliest we’ve ever been able to cross to the Bahamas. Last year it wasn’t until February 13th and the year before it was January 11th. The weather during the Bahamanian cruising season mellows as the season progresses. So I was always able to justify our late crossing by saying that we’d just be missing the worst of the weather.

This year we got an early start and arrived just in time for some, that’s right, crappy weather. We had a very calm and windless night for the crossing and yesterday we were up and out at daybreak. Our destination was Goat Cay in the Berry Island group. We had stopped there for a single night on our way south last year and it seemed that it would offer the protection that we would need from a frontal system due to arrive later this evening.

We were making great time so the crews of Solitaire and Veranda decided to press on a bit. The front was supposed to bring winds in the 20 to 30 knot range with squalls approaching 40 all from the south. We would have liked to get to the cut at Devils / Hoffman where we spent 10 (glorious) days a couple of years ago, but it was just to far for us to arrive in daylight. We opted instead for a large cove on the eastern side of Great Harbor Cay. The place offered great protection from the south although promised to be a bit rolly.

We entered the cove behind Hawksnest Cay followed closely by Solitaire. There were already 2 boats lying at anchor. We snuck past them and positioned ourselves upwind of them for when the wind started to crank. We set the hook at full RPM’s and settled in for the night in 9 feet of water with a hundred feet of chain out.

We dropped the dink and went over to Solitaire for dinner and discussed options. As of that moment we didn’t really have any. We were 10 miles from Devils/ Hoffman and there were 3 boats already in there. The forecast hadn’t gotten any worse, it was just that the wind was going to be out of the south for longer than first predicted. If it abated a bit we might make the 10 mile jump down to Devils or maybe even Adler Cay but we’d have to see.

November 30, 2009.

Let me jump back to Thanksgiving for a minute. We had a lovely meal in the Far Niente’s shoreside home along with the Alibi II’s and Solitaire. During the course of dinner conversation it became known that Bill from Alibi II is actually Vanna Whites big brother. Since I had the picture I figured I had to tell the story. I can see the resemblance.

Back to the present. We were sitting in the anchorage at Lake Worth waiting to start an overnight crossing. The inlet is pretty small considering the size of some of the boat traffic transiting the inlet. This large fella came in with a deck just covered in boats being transported from one
place to another.

At 1600 hours we pulled anchor and set out for Lucaya on Grand Bahamas Island. The crossing was into a very slight headwind and was an all night motorboat trip complete with a full moon for most of the trip. We arrived just before dawn and were pleasantly surprised to find the inlet bordered by well lit navigational buoys. Solitaire was timing their arrival to coincide with the marinas opening at 0800. So we slipped through the channel and anchored in a wide spot inside the safety of the harbor. We had close to 2 hours to catch up on our sleep but I was unable to rest as I was pretty excited about being here once again.

Once Solitaire arrived we hoisted anchor and pulled into the marina. That’s pretty much where the love affair with Lucaya came to an end. We both took slips as required to check in with Customs and Immigration. When Nancy was making our reservations she found that the sailboat section (read that as cheaper) had closed. We were told that we would be given that sections rate. That was of course until we actually showed up in person. Then it was “No, no der be no such ting as special pricing”. The 20 percent difference in price was annoying but the whole lying thing…..well that’s just really gets my goat. While the woman was lying to my face she made a motion with her hand and knocked her full cup of coffee all over her keyboard, calculator and desktop. I was in full smirk when I said “Oh boy, that’s a shame” and left. Karma meet lying marina worker, lying marina worker meet karma.

Next it was off to Customs and Immigration. The Customs officer was not in yet so Immigration was first. When you fill out the half dozen associated forms one of them asks how long you would like to stay in the country. The maximum is 6 months so we always ask for 180 days. It’s very random as to who gets what. Solitaire and we were only granted 90 days. It’s not that big a deal as you can stop in at any customs office and get an extension for another 90 days. So the question becomes…..”If you’re gonna give me the 180 days anyway, why can’t I walk outta here with all of em’ today?” It’s a huge pain in the ass as we have to be in a place where we can get our extension just as our permits run out. But it is what it is.

As part of the process the Immigration officer called the Customs division and let them know that there were people here to check in. After 2 hours and repeated assurances that she was on the way the facts came to light. The Immigration officer never made the call. Once the Customs woman was actually notified she was there in ten minutes and blew through our paperwork quickly.

After spending 3 hours to accumulate a few rubber stamps we went home to the boat for lunch. After lunch we walked the downtown shopping district with the Solitaires. Then Christy washed the salt and filth from the decks while I jerry jugged some diesel to top off our tanks.

We’ll be leaving for the Berry islands in the morning and once there we’ll be hiding from a front that supposed to move through the area on Wednesday and Thursday. So its no internet for us for at least a week I would guess.

There’s something a bit wrong with 85 degrees, loud Christmas music and a huge decorated tree. Don't misconstrue that as complaining, I'll deal with it.

November 29, 2009.

To paraphrase our friend Mike on Sapphire….”We’re sinking”. Fortunately, like Mike's sinking it turned out to be a semi minor event. We were up and underway from Vero Beach. We were headed to the Fort Pierce inlet where we had absorbed a vicious ass kicking last year on our way north. We planned to sail south along the coast and turn east towards the Bahamas when we started to feel the effects of the Gulf Stream.

As soon as we left Vero Beach the recently installed bilge alarm started screaming. We had overfilled the water tank at the fuel dock in Vero so I figured it was the excess water being pumped from the bilge. After the pump had come on several times it was time to go below and check things out.

Both stuffing boxes and the engine room were all dry. I thought maybe it was a problem with the alarm so I pumped the big manual pump and sure enough there were a few gallons of water in the bilge. Crap. So I headed to the bow to start a systematic check of every thru hull in the boat.

As soon as I got to the forward head the problem was obvious. One of the new fresh water couplings that I had installed a week ago under the sink was leaking. Christy was doing dishes and had the fresh water pump on, the elbow failed and we were filling our bilge with our drinking water. Underneath the sink there was water spraying everywhere, it looked like a scene from a German submarine movie. Crap. I shut the pump off and that stopped the water for the time being.

Far Niente was having a problem with his autopilot so we stopped in Fort Pierce for 2 hours so Jay could run to West Marine for parts. While he was busy with that, I removed and reinstalled the coupling only to have it fail almost immediately. Crap.

Jay was done, the last of the ebb tide was running so we had to up anchor and go out the inlet. The inlet was much nicer to us than it had been last year and we were soon southbound in the ocean.

Almost immediately Far Niente called us on the VHF and said that their autopilot was again acting up and they would have to stop in Lake Worth rather than cross to the Bahamas. I had the water system to deal with so we opted for Lake Worth as well. Solitaire also changed plans and headed in as well. We all arrived just after dark and carefully threaded our way into the anchorage to drop our hooks for the night.

Since we couldn’t wash either the dishes or ourselves I had to jump right on the coupling repair. Once the coupling was properly installed the root cause of the problem became clear to me. The regulator on our fresh water pump had failed. It was allowing the system to over pressurize until the weakest link in the system failed. Now that the system was once again in good health the pressure built so much that it actually overpowered the pressure relief valve on the hot water tank. Crap.

The pressure regulator is not adjustable so that meant the entire pump must be replaced. It was too late, I was to tired, so it would have to wait. So, first thing in the morning we had to dig through the entire V berth to find the spare water pump. It was only 6 feet away, I knew exactly where it was but it still took a half an hour to lay my hands on it. The install was pretty much remove/ replace and all went well.

After that I spent a bit of time on Far Niente basically confirming Jay’s fears. Technically speaking, we think Jay’s course computer has “shit the bed”. Since its Sunday things get a little more complicated as Jay has to wait until tomorrow to get a call into Raymarine. Is there a new unit in town, can they ship one immediately, is there some other kind of troubleshooting that they might recommend? Far Niente could be here for a couple of days so it looks as if Solitaire and Veranda are going to head out tonight before this weather window closes.

November 25, 2009.

We’re in Vero Beach and taking care of our final provisioning. We borrowed Solitaires car and spent $860 on food.
We had two shopping carts straining under maximum load. Several people took the time to question us as to why we were buying so much food. It’s pretty tough to try and food shop for a 6 month period. That was only the basic foods. We made separate trips later in the week for meats, bread and fresh vegetables.

After getting the meat home Christy broke the packages down into smaller, more user friendly portions that I resealed with a vacuum sealer. After that, all of it went into the freezer.

We also recommissioned the watermaker. We use a TDS meter to check the water for “solids” content. Anything less than 500 ppm is considered safe to drink. When we were in Washington, DC we checked the water coming from the taps there and found it to be at around 480 ppm. Here on the boat our water is consistently under 300 ppm. That’s some fine quality H²O.

While Christy was out shopping with Nancy I took the opportunity to attend a local car show with the Far Niente’s.



There were quite a few cars and most of them were in wonderful shape.

I also spent a bit of time up the mast of all 3 boats tied to our mooring. It seemed we all had niggling problems that needed some attention so we took care of them all one after the other. It was kind of like a crappy game show where everybody gets a chance to haul my fat ass up their mast.

November 18, 2009.

On Tuesday we left Saint Augustine at first light in the company of about a dozen other boats. We spent the majority of the day with a favorable tide so a 60 couple mile day happened easily.

The ICW in Florida is pretty much a north-south affair. None of that meandering Georgia crap. So distance wise it’s pretty much the same as going on the outside. The bad part is that you have to remain vigilant but the bonus is that you can drop the hook whenever you’re ready.


There’s a lot of wildlife to be seen, there’s the challenge of timing the bridges and the opportunity to run across old friends plugging along down the ditch.

We stopped for the night in Rockhouse Creek. We were the third boat in and we watched as another 7 boats filled the anchorage during the late afternoon.

On Wednesday morning we were up and outta there before anyone else even had lights on. I’ve definitely worn Christy down on the whole “getting up early thing”.

At one point during the day the motor bogged and started to fade a bit. Crap. Its amazing the trouble shooting you can run through your mind while you’re dropping down the companionway into the boat. I quickly unscrewed the panel that hides the fuel selector switch, flipped it and the engine instantly resumed its happy tune. We can usually run for about 30 hours on a tank of fuel and I was planning to check the tank around noon. Somehow I screwed up the math, forgot a day or something, I dunno but it all worked out.

It was another day with a decent push and when the tidal flow turned against us the wind picked up so
we were able to maintain an SOG of over 7 knots for the entire day. We saw some new things today; snow white pelicans and cops on jet skis. We ended up doing over 70 miles and still had the hook down before 1600 hours.

Most public libraries have wifi now-a-days. As a cruiser it’s nice to be able to carry your laptop into the library and take care of internet business. But to find a library that backs up to water deep enough for you to anchor behind the building so you can connect from the boat, well, that’s just priceless.

On Thursday we left at 0730 and did a quick 30 mile day and made it to Vero Beach where we plan to stay through Thanksgiving before crossing to the Bahamas.