Made it to Marsh Harbor

Our stay in West End was nice but cold. Dirk did find the courage to done a wetsuit and hit the water in search of prey. Unfortunately he came up empty handed but at least we have the lobster from Lobster Man stashed in the freezer to share with his mom when she arrives on the 24th. The day before we left Ellie from FinniRish buzzed me on the radio to tell me the Bread Lady was here at the docks selling her bread. So lucky for me she was on our dock and Dirk and I went to acquire some of the wonderful Bahamian bread we have heard so much about. She offered white, cinnamon raisin, coconut, and banana all of which looked wonderful to us. We settled on the coconut and headed back to the boat to try a piece as it was still warm from the oven. Oooohhh so good and fresh, and I’m sure fattening as I tend to like butter. I mean, love butter. Thursday evening was spent topping off the water tanks and fuel and securing items on top in preparation for an early departure the next morning. The winds had finally died and pulling away from the docks was nice and uneventful like I like it. We were on our way to Great Sale Cay 47 miles away and as we turned to look behind us we found we had a line of boats following, all of which were heading to the same place. We had a full day of motoring as there was no wind to speak of and unfortunately no sun either which made for a chilly ride. We arrived at Great Sale with a couple hours to spare on daylight so we threw some dogs on the grill and sat back enjoying a sun downer waiting for dinner. It was an early evening as we had another early morning departure to head over to Crab Cay. What a beautiful calm morning we awoke to, the water was like glass and it was almost impossible to tell where the water ended and the sky began.

The sun came out and we had yet another day of motoring as we had about 3 knots of wind. The sun felt wonderful and we were finally able to put shorts on for the first time since our arrival into the Bahamas.
Our trip was shorter than the day before and we had time to put the dinghy into the water and explore a bit before sundown. Crab Cay is a beautiful anchorage, nice and quiet as FinnIrish and us were the only boats there till later in the evening when a power boat pulled in. The anchorage was nice with water clear enough to see the anchor sitting on the bottom and all sea urchins, sea cucumbers and star fish sitting about doing their own things. Dirk and I took the dinghy over to shore which was only a rocky shore line covered in old conch shells and drift wood. We waded through the water seeing what we could see and photograph.

On the way back to Tybee Time we managed to catch the sunset, yet another beautiful ending to another beautiful day in the Bahamas.

The following morning we awoke early again and checked with anyone on the radio about the conditions of the Whale. It's an area between the islands that opens up to the Atlantic ocean and can get nasty if the winds are bad. It would only take us about 30 minutes to get through it but we didn't want to kill ourselves. Lucky for us it was very doable and we got through with no problems what so ever. We entered Marsh Harbor and decided on a marina as the next day it was suppose to blow about 40 knots which never did appear, but no problem, we wanted to be on a dock for the arrival of Dirks mom anyway. Marsh Harbor Marina seems like a decent place, nice clean showers, pool, Internet, although a bit spotty at times. The price was good too at 65 cents a foot with water being 4.00 a day. We can top off our water and give the boat a good wash down. Laundry is expensive at 4.00 per wash & 4.00 per dry but it wasn't a shocker as I had been warned by other people that laundry in the Bahamas is expensive. I'm learning how many times I can wear something before it begins to wrestle with me trying to get to laundry on its own. Today we actually went snorkeling at Mermaid Reef and saw so much sea life. Unfortunately this is a no take zone as there were some lobsters so big they seemed the size of a small dog. Oh well, it was a great snorkel or dive site as like I said it is teaming with fish and other critters. Tomorrow we pick up Dirks mom from the airport and she will stay with us about 2 and a half weeks. Hopefully the weather will warm up a bit for her and we can show her many adventures. She has never seen our boat except in photos and has never been on a sail boat so it should be interesting. Hopefully I will find the time to update while she is here so I can keep you all posted.

Moving on to Great Sale Cay

We knew when we left Fort Lauderdale on Monday that we would probably be stuck here in West End for a couple days waiting on the weather to calm down. Since we have been here the temperatures have been in the low 70's during the day which is not too bad but then throw the constant strong winds in and it makes it downright nippy. Dirk is just now washing down the boat today from the crossing as it has been too cold to be outside for too long.

Above is the Old Bahama Bay marina where we are docked. We are actually the second mast from the right. Beautiful place here and off the beaten path. Below is the beach which has been too cold to do anything other then beach comb on.

Even though it has been cold and windy nothing can keep Dirk out of the water too long. The quest for hunting sea life is too strong so he donned his wetsuit and lobster gear and headed out to the point there to do some lobstering. There is a local here known by Lobster man that goes out and you can buy them off him. Dirk figures Lobster man can get them so why cant he? After much hunting he came back empty handed but had stories of all the pretty eagle rays he spotted along with the first lion fish so I don't guess it was a completely wasted day. Today Dirk got up early to see if he could spot Lobster man at work to see where he is getting his catch and indeed he did. But of course it was easier to just buy them off him so he agreed to find us on the boat after his hunt which he did. Our buddy boat and us ended up buying most of what he had gotten for the day. Now we have some lobster to share with Dirks mom when when she arrives in about a week. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, the first night we were here we did eat at the restaurant here and had some very good conch fritters along with our first taste of conch salad. I didn't know how I would take to eating raw conch as anyone who knows me knows I can be somewhat of a picky eater at times, but I will be on the look out for the street vendors selling this along our travels as I hear they make the best. If I get brave enough I will try making it myself with fresh conch we catch ourselves. Tomorrow will find us pulling out of here and making the 46 mile trip to Great Sale Cay across the Little Bahama Banks. From there we need to make tracks to Marsh Harbor as we have Dirks mom flying in from Germany to meet us on the 24th. So I will catch you folks up next Internet connection I have. I'm gonna miss this free marina signal we have had the last couple days.

We Made it.....Finally

Yes folks, we finally broke free from the hold that Mother Nature had on us in Fort Lauderdale and took the small weather window we found yesterday to get across. I think we had both gown tired of living on a mooring ball, especially when the weather has not been that great and most days were spent downstairs out of the wind and cold. Last of the provisioning had been done, laundry washed, water topped off, and deck secured. It was time to go....We slipped off the mooring ball yesterday morning at 4 am to make the 17th street bridge opening at 4:30 then headed out to open ocean. So many lights in the distance and so the task at hand was to determine which direction they were headed and what they were. Anyone who has been on the ocean at night knows how disoriented you can get with the lights. We finally determined one set of lights which were attached to a very large cruise ship was moving towards us on our starboard side as a large cargo ship was coming at us on our port side. Throw in the extra small fishing vessels and various other boats and it made for a nail biting exit. What time was sunrise again?.....Things are so much easier when you can see. As we entered the Gulf Stream we knew right away as our speed increased a bit but not what we were expecting. We had the sails up and settled into the day. The winds were anywhere from 5 to 20 knots and the seas weren’t bad. All through the Gulf Stream there were just swells and perhaps 3 to 4 foot waves. Don’t quote me as I am a horrible judge of that. Once we exited the stream on the other side the winds and seas were beginning to pick up as forecasted but soon we were able to spot the water tower on west end and knew that soon we would be there. Our estimation was that we would make it by 4 or 4:30 still enough time to make it to customs to check in before they closed at 5pm. About that time we get a call from FinnIrish, our buddy boat stating that their engine had died and they were going to try and fix the problem which they believed to be a fuel filter. Dirk and I changed our course back to them and it was soon apparent that it wasn’t going to start so we slowed a bit as they followed under sail power alone. Knowing they could not get into the marina without power they arranged for a tow to meet them outside the channel. Dangit, we weren’t going to make customs today. Oh well, I hoisted the quarantine flag up and got lines ready as we circled Ellie and Jim waiting with them till the tow boat arrived. Soon they were hooked up and we followed them into the channel and then to the marina. Once they were secure and we were docked we found that indeed customs had stayed open. I don’t know if it was for us or because there were several other boats coming in behind us, we didn’t care. So Dirk scurried off the boat and headed to customs, passports, documentation and cash in hand. After that and checking us into the marina he headed back to the boat and we did a quick change of clothes and set out to find food. We were starving and grumpy and tired from the day so food was consumed and we retired back to the boat for a very early evening. So today is day one in the Bahamas, the wind is howling and its cloudy but we made it here. I’m ready to go grab a shower and get off this boat to take a look see around a bit. Depending on weather we may not get out of here till Friday. The winds are forecast to be strong for several days as yet another cold front passes. Our next destination is Great Sale Cay (pronounced Key) so before we leave here I will give a heads up and now since we are in the Bahamas internet will be where I can get it. The photo with this post is of our buddy boat at sunrise.

Super Bowl Sunday

Here we are, and yes as much as I hate to say it, still in Fort Lauderdale. We are not believing this weather. It seems we put our sights on leaving a certain day and then the next day or two days later that day is yanked away. Frustration has set in and Dirk & I try not to let it get us down but it is so very hard, especially when we read other blogs and find out that people have left and made it over with little problem. On the other hand we met a gentleman the other day that came back from there and had the ride of his life in 12 foot seas that he wished he hadnt taken. We have learned from this experience that next cruising season we will be leaving before December or after February. Sitting here in Fort Lauderdale has become expensive and thats money I would rather be giving to the Bahamas then a city that seems to have more money then it needs. So I guess we sit along with a lot of other folks waiting for the elusive weather window to open. So tonight we will get together with Jim & Ellie from our buddy boat FinniRish to watch the super bowl in the marina lounge. Throw some steaks on the grill, grab a couple cold ones and cuddle up cause its gonna be a cold one at 48 degrees tonight. Maybe it's just hell freezing over cause the Saints made it to the super bowl. The Saints is the team I will be rooting for and I will be the minority in my group as everyone else is a colts fan. But its something to do, a reason to put on some real clothes and brush the hair. GEAUX SAINTS !!!!!!

Still in Fort Lauderdale

As much as I hate to say it we are still here in Fort Lauderdale sitting on a mooring ball waiting on mother nature to cooperate a little with us. We did change moorings after two days as the second day the winds shifted and we found probably the only shallow spot under our boat. It was late in the evening and sitting below I felt a bump, then another. We thought maybe it might be manatees as I have read that they will use the hull of your boat to scratch themselves, and we have seen them on a daily basis here. We kept feeling the bumps and decided to go up top and check it out. Once we got up top we are searching the waters and then we look around and notice that everyone is facing a different direction then us. Dirk looked at me and said " I think we are sitting on the bottom" How could we be sitting on the bottom, we are in a mooring field, paying to be here, shouldn't we have enough water under us? We climbed into the dinghy and tried to swing the boat off the high spot we were apparently sitting on. Tybee was not budging but good for us the tide was on the rise again. About 30 minutes later we were up top and suddenly we started swinging back into our place in line. We were floating once again. There are only about 7 mooring balls here and they are snatched up quickly as they are vacated. So we wait until someone leaves which lucky for us was the next afternoon. Dirk then called the marina office and suggested that they might want to put out that the ball we were on should be for shallow draft boats.

Anyway here we sit, and sit, and sit. West End Bahamas just a mere 70ish miles away calling for us yet we cant get there due to the winds and waves that separate us. Days tick by and we try to fend off the frustration that wants to set in. What can we do but wait and sit, and wait.