Here, There, and Everywhere

We returned to Marsh Harbor once the winds decided they weren’t calming down at Man O War and ended up spending a week at anchor there. We took the opportunity to enjoy Valentine’s day at Snappa’s with a meal I didn’t have to cook and enjoyed the sunset casting a beautiful glow on the harbor as we listened to a local artist belt out songs we knew all the words to. There was some final laundry and provisioning to do the following day in preparation of leaving, and on the 17th we topped off of the fuel and water tanks and headed out. We anchored up on the outside of Hope Town so that we could make the run at high tide down to Tahiti Beach the next morning. We had spoken with Kathy & Earl aboard s/v Seeker about the possibility of them coming over to anchor with us so Dirk could take them out to teach them the correct ways of conch trolling as I think they misunderstood just a wee bit our instructions before. So as not to have Earl end up missing fingers or having prop marks on his forehead Dirk explained that one needs a rope longer than 2 feet tied to the back of the dinghy while trolling with a person in tow. It was a successful trip and the guys came back with dinner in the boat. A quick lesson on cleaning and Seeker took off to make it to Man O War for the night as Dirk & I settled into a quiet evening.

Almost a full moon on our anchorage

The next morning we were joined by Ace & Suzie from s/v Ace’s Wild which are also from Panama City FL. We were all planning on attending the Cracker P’s full moon party that evening so we anchored up at Tahiti beach which is a short dinghy ride across from Lubbers Quarters. Once we dropped the hook at Tahiti we made a bee line for the beach to enjoy yet another beautiful day full of sunshine. First order of business was for Dirk to climb a coconut tree, retrieve two green coconuts and make us a coconut and rum cocktail. Rum in a fresh coconut and Tybee Time at anchor behind

After all it was 5 O’clock somewhere. We ended up playing several games of beach Bocce ball which I had never played before but turns out I really enjoyed. A bit of beach combing, and then back to the boat to clean up so we could make it in time for sun downers at Ace’s Wild. We were joined by Jose’ & Bill from Caper who would end up travelling with us for a couple days along with Ace’s Wild and Big Toot. At about 7 we climbed in the dinghy and headed in to Cracker P’s, but first we made a stop at Hobbs and Heidi’s boat m/v Big Toot. We met them last year and had a blast with them so it was nice to meet up with them again. A bit of time getting reacquainted while the full moon rose and it was off to Cracker P’s for what promised to be a good evening. Ace, Suzie and us having a great time

The following morning my aching head told me that we indeed had a good time. There were places to go and things to see so we pulled Tybee Times anchor and headed to Snake Cay followed by Ace’s Wild, Caper, and Big Toot. We were here last year and the entrance to the dinghy trail has a fairly deep hole where spotted eagle rays like to fly around gracefully and feed. We arrived right as the tide was going out and the current was pretty rough but we found if you stayed close to the wall you could swim upstream than drift back, cross over and do it again and again. We didn’t see as many rays as last year but we did manage to see lots of sea life and it made for a great snorkel. one heck of a starfish found by Dirk

A pretty big Lion fish I spotted

The only photo I managed to get of the Eagle Ray

Snake Cay is a nice day anchorage but not so good for the evening because the holding isn’t that great so after the snorkel and dinghy ride through the marsh we headed back to our boats, pulled anchor and sailed across the bay to Tiloo Cay where it was just us four boats in the anchorage. We decided that happy hour would be on Big Toot because they were the only one that had a boat big enough to hold everyone. We all contributed a bit of food and we had a wonderful spread to choose from.

I love sun downer parties

Lots of great conversation led into lots of jokes and eventually led us to playing charades. Some very hard things were played but yet we managed to get them all and the game ended up in a tie. We women showed the men that we couldn’t be beat. We soon found it late and we all soon departed and headed back to our own boats. Tybee Time as the sun went down behind her

The following morning we picked up anchor and headed even further south to Lynyard Cay which is the jump off point for the crossing to Eleuthera. Thanks to Ace's Wild for snapping this great photo of Tybee Time under sail.

We were due to have up to 20 knot winds so Big Toot headed on in to Little Harbor but due to the tides and knowing that we could not get in we elected to stay on the Outside. Dirk, Ace, Bill & Suzie ended up going conching as Jose’ & I decided we wanted beach time. Several hours later they returned with their limit each. It was a good day not to be a conch. Conch trolling, the art of pulling people behind the dinghy to cover lots more ground while looking for conch.

After what seemed to be forever the men returned from cleaning the conch at the beach. Of course a lesson on how to make fritters and conch salad was taken and a nice meal was had. The following morning we pulled anchor in order to make it into Little Harbor on high tide and settled onto a mooring ball right in front of Pete’s Pub.

A bit of cleaning up, and it was off to enjoy a wonderful lunch and to partake in Pete’s signature drink the Blaster. The saying along with the drink name is “Why walk when you can crawl” That about sums that up. After lunch we took a stroll on the beach as it was nearing low tide and I scored several pieces of very nice sea glass which I have been practicing turning into jewelry.

Some pendents for necklaces above

Above is the prized piece of glass that Dirk found for me last year in Hatchet Bay that I turned into a necklace.

Later on we were invited to have dinner aboard Ace’s Wild and Ace said to wear something pirate related as that was the theme. If we didn’t have anything he would hook us up. Well since we have been cruising I have had pirate costumes stashed under the v-berth and so it was time to knock the dust off of them and put them to use. We arrived to dinner with our knives drawn and ready to collect our booty.

It was a fun evening yet again eating our fill. Thanks go to Ace & Suzie for a great meal and conversation.

Of course pirates bring their own conch horns for the evening

The next morning it was time to say good bye as we were heading back to Lynyard Cay and Ace's Wild to Hope Town. What a great fun filled week it had been but it was time to move south and tomorrow seemed the day to do it. Apparently everyone else thought so too as there were about 20 boats in the anchorage. Dirk hit the reefs that afternoon and returned home with 1 lobster and one mangrove snapper and after cleaning the catch we hit the beach for some beach combing and returned home with a nice selection of sea glass. We had an early dinner,watched a video, and turned in early as it would be an early departure for us the following day. Up at 5:30 and having pulled anchor we were underway at 6:02 along with 6 other boats taking off at the same time. Once we all made it out the pass we all settled into our own routines, setting sails and kicked back to enjoy the perfect crossing that it appeared we were going to get. We heard on the radio from the boat in front of us that they had spotted whales off their starboard side so of course we scamper about to see if we can also spot them. There ahead off to the right we indeed saw the spray from the blow holes and once I could get a better look I sorted through my books and think that they were dwarf sperm whales as they can be found in the Abacos quite a bit according to the cruising guide. We weren’t able to get close up to them and wouldn’t dare to anyway. I have seen the video where the whale crashes on deck of the sail boat. No thanks…..It was however our first whale sighting and was cool to see. It was a totally wonderful day with what worked out to be a beautiful sail the whole way with only a few minor adjustments to the sails. Once we started to hit the shallow water of Eleuthera Dirk finally got a hit on one of his four fishing lines he had out and pulled in a small Bonito. He got tossed back and and before Dirk could get all the line out again he got another hit which turned out to be a small shark.It took us a while, but we managed to get him off the line and back into the water without injury to anyone. I didn’t realize sharks went for lures but maybe this one struck before he thought too much. By the time we got him back in the water it was time to pull the lines in as we would be making our turn at Egg Island and into Eleuthera. Nine hours after we started we had arrived. A few of the other boat broke off and headed into Royal Island but us and one other continued onto Spanish Wells where we were to pick up a mooring ball. I'm glad we decided to continue on as Bandit, the mooring ball operator only had two balls left and we and the other boat got them. Sleep came early and easy that night and we awoke to beautiful skies, warm weather and are now anxious to continue south. We will be here for a couple days then head on down to Hatchet Bay. We enjoyed it there last year and are looking forward to going back. In the mean time we continue to meet lots of new cruisers and make new friends.

Island hopping and lobster hunting

On the 30th of January we finally left Green Turtle and headed towards the Whale. The whale is a area of the Abacos where one must exit into the Atlantic ocean for about 30 minutes only to veer back into the banks at Great Guana. Unless you have a very shallow draft vessel you don’t attempt the inside but there are several conditions that make the whale a place you want to wait for calm or calmer weather for as there are several reefs that one could get washed onto if not careful. Also if it is rough than it makes for an unpleasant ride. Hey were not here to win any races so we get there when we get there. On the day we picked to proceed through the whale it couldn’t be better, well it could have been if we would have gotten any kind of bite on the lines we threw out. Oh well, maybe on our way down to Eleuthera we may get lucky as there is really no fishing to be done on the banks due to it being so shallow. We ended up in the anchorage outside of Grabber’s,

Sunset from Grabbers beach

a local hangout for cruisers, put the hook down and headed up to Nipper’s for their Sunday pig roast. It’s another local hangout painted shades of pinks, blues, yellows,and greens overlooking the Atlantic with the beautiful shades of water the Bahamas are so famous for.

View from the top of Nippers

They also have the famous frozen Nipper that will soon make you want to get up and dance. No wonder these places are always so festive, the states need to take lessons from the Bahamians on how to make a drink. They definitely do not skimp on the good stuff…..So after partaking in the all you can eat pig roast we walked the beautiful white sand beach to try and walk a bit of it off before returning and having maybe a few too many of those frozen Nipper’s, They do sneak up on you….The next day we hung around the boat doing some neglected chores, I mean who wants to clean when paradise beckons…and later we took a long dinghy ride over to Spoil Cay,aka Shell Island and found several very nice shells.

On Tuesday Dirk was chomping at the bit to go hunting so we headed out to some reefs and he was more than happy to bag one. On Wednesday we were going to head to Marsh Harbor as we needed to do some re provisioning but not before Dirk took one more look at some promising reefs he had seen the day before. A few hours later he returned with 3 lobsters and a big grin,

he was happy and I was glad. We soon shoved off and made the uneventful trip into Marsh Harbor, set the hook down in almost the exact spot as last year and called it a day. I was surprised to find out that Marsh Harbor now has a new grocery store which upon entering made me feel like I was back in the states. I was so excited with only expectations of finding what I could and making due as is so often the case in the Bahamas. You get what you get and be happy you got it at all. Upon entering I saw every fruit and veggie one finds in the states but also some others that I had never seen before. I spent lots of time up and down the aisles looking at the stuff I was familiar with and daring to try some of the local products. I may be wrong but I think that some of the prices have actually gone down, yes I said down since last year when we were here and lots of the items were very compatible to prices back home. I bought a bag of coleslaw for $2.19 And a large 46oz size of pineapple juice for $ 2.59, a 2 liter of tonic water was $1.89, canned corn on special .79 cents a can and I got tostitoes for 1.99 a lg. bag. Usually chips run 6 to 7 dollars a bag here so we don’t eat them once we run out of what we brought with us. To top it off, no sales tax....Wow. So I stocked up on what I could and hit the liquor store on the way back. I learned last year that beer here is outrageous at about 46.00 a case, but liquor is cheaper than the states, even the name brands. We carry beer from the states where we can fit it in but once it’s gone, it’s gone. Laundry was done the following day and then we took off for the quaint island of Elbow Cay and Hope Town. We grabbed a mooring ball as there is no anchor room and settled ourselves in for a couple days. Super Bowl Sunday we headed out to do a little hunting at the reefs, I say we, Dirk does the hunting as I sit and sun in the dinghy reading or doing whatever. He was happy at the end of the day as he bagged 3 more lobster and 5 conchs. Back to the boat to clean the catch and then over to Harbors Edge Restaurant to watch the game. Neither of us had a favorite team as we really aren’t into football much but it was something to do for the evening. After the slightly disappointing half time show we went back to the boat and turned in early. Monday was a lazy day beach combing and later we had Carol & Dave from s/v Zydeco over for some fresh conch fritters. Carol and Dave use to be our dock neighbors several years ago in Panama City when we still owned our power boat before we saw the light of sailing. They have finally broken free to travel this year and we have run into them on every island we visit which is not unusual at all. You run into the same folks over and over again which makes this lifestyle great. The next day it was calm and Dirk wanted to try his luck again at the reefs taking a single hander along with him that had wanted to go. For those of you non sailors, that means someone travelling alone. I have to give those people credit for having the courage to leave the safety of their dock, travel across the Gulf Stream to explore and travel all by their selves. Normally it is men but on occasion you do find a woman. So Dirk took this guy John out to show him how to find lobster and conch. John didn’t find any but Dirk came back with the biggest one he has gotten so far. The tail alone measured a little over 9 inches. After many photos of his trophy he was vac u sealed and put in the freezer for later consumption.

Here is Butter's checking out Mr. Lobster

We can’t eat lobster every day now can we? So the following day we headed to Man O War with the idea of staying a couple days but Mother Nature had other plans. That evening the winds picked up and we had a pretty rolly night with no let up in the winds for a couple days in sight so it was back to Marsh Harbor to seek some shelter. We have been sitting here for about a week now planning our next move which should be tomorrow. Looks like we may head out of here and head to Tahiti Beach and perhaps Friday catch the Cracker P’s full moon party than make tracks to Little Harbor and wait for a window to head on down to Eleuthera. Once we arrive there the Internet will be less than grand so I will update when I can.

Green Turtle & Manjack Cay

Well after arriving, getting checked in and heading into the Green Turtle Club marina I stepped on land for the first time in about a week.

Here I am hoisting the Bahama courtesy flag

We all took long hot showers, changed and headed into the Tipsy Turtle bar for a sun downer celebration.After indulging in 3 signature Tipsy Turtle drinks apiece we finally decided that dinner needed to come next. We headed out to the porch where we had the 1st conch of the season served in conch fritters and each one of us ate some of the best burgers we had had in a long time. Ummm maybe it was because it was the first meal I didn’t have to cook in a while or maybe it was the turtles, but man was it good. Off to bed for an early night and up early to get some laundry done before we took off. 4 tokens costing $17.00 got me 2 loads of wash and 2 loads of dry, gee it’s good to be back but I can’t wait till it warms up some and we can live in swim suits. While Barbara and I did laundry the men were back on the boats refilling the fuel and water tanks and once we were done we pulled out of the dock and headed to the outside of Green Turtle to anchor for a couple nights. The above photo was taken next to the boat at the dock, look at that clear water..

We of course took the tour of New Plymouth visiting the local shops, stopping for lunch, and getting a few groceries bought. Dirk & Klaus took the dinghy out one day to the reefs to snorkel and hunt while Barbara and I took the time to beach comb and relax.

How relaxing is that...


First day out and Dirk got his first two lobsters of the season.

On the 18th we headed to Manjack Cay for a couple days of beach combing and snorkeling. The water it turns out is just a bit chilly to be in for any length of time for me but Dirk is just fine with it and goes at it every chance he gets. A squall came through the anchorage the next morning and we drug anchor for about 20 feet before it reset itself. Now mind you in all the years we have owned Tybee Time we have a great record of never dragging. Manjack is a great anchorage but really only in calmer weather. We knew this from last year and we weren’t due to have any type of weather. Oh well, Mother Nature plays it her way. We were actually okay where we had reset but decided we felt safer a bit farther away from the rocky walls that were now about 60 yards behind us now so we picked up anchor and moved to a different spot. This evening we would need to head back to Green Turtle as a cold front was due to blow and we preferred to be on a mooring ball in the harbor for that one. First however we decided to check out the reefs one more time and indeed came back with 2 more lobsters. We then pulled anchor and headed back to safer waters. That night the cold front came in and brought with it some hefty winds. At one time we recorded 40 knots as it heeled the boat enough to toss some things out of the shelves. Whew, I’m glad we are on a mooring but now we have to worry about the people anchored around us and hope they don’t drag. The next morning it seemed everyone was pretty much in the same place which was where they stayed due to a rough day predicted again. Seems there is about 2 to 3 days of settled weather and then 2 days of cold front so it’s out to the anchorage for a few and into the harbor for a few. We have been checking out the reefs and the various beaches here in Green Turtle quite a bit. My beach combing has paid off with the find of many sea beans, sea biscuits and sea glass. Brown hamburgers, red hamburger, various hearts and other types. Some look rough but I read that I can polish them up

I’m a happy camper and Dirk to date has bagged 9 lobsters, most of which end up on our plates a couple hours after spearing. I'm not complaining though, would you? Dinner one evening consisting of lobster cooked on the grill with garlic, butter, and Lemon with sauteed summer squash with garlic and onion and rice pilaf. Not eating too shabby....

Yesterday we moved back out to the anchorage and bid our buddy boaters Klaus and Barbara on s/v Klabara farewell. They have decided to take a mooring ball and stay in Green Turtle for the duration of their time here as they have to be back in the states the end of next month. This gives them time to relax and explore the island at a snails pace and that's what its all about. We will miss them dearly as they have been great buddy boaters and have become dear friends. We wish them safe travels on their way back to the states. As for us, we continue on south staying out in the anchorage for a couple more days before heading south through the whale and on to Great Guana, home of Nippers and Grabbers and more beautiful beaches.

Bahamas

Day after day we watched the weather on various web sites, sail flow, passage weather, NOAA and every time we could manage to get up early enough, we would tune in the SSB (single side band) to catch the weather guru Chris Parker. Weather windows opened, and then they closed. Anyone that has made a crossing can pretty much agree in my opinion that it’s not the crossing but the waiting that is more nerve wracking. Well, it’s pretty close anyway after sitting here recalling some past crossings we have made. Our buddy boat Klabara is also anxious as this will be their first crossing and time is getting short for them as they must be back in Florida by the end of February to return to Canada. For their sake we hoped it would be soon. Things were coming together, the boat was about as provisioned as it could be without completely losing our waterline, the fuel tanks were full, water topped off and to boot Chris Parker said that Tuesday would be a go for the crossing. Although it would be a short window we would jump on it. The last of items were checked off, lee cloths were attached so we could keep items contained in case it was a rough crossing, V Berth, aka garage, tied down,

meals prepared so all I would have to do is re-heat them, jack lines, harnesses, life vest and ditch bag laid out. It was to be an early morning. Sleep was hard to come by but 2:20 found us way too easy in my opinion. Coffee was prepped and we pulled anchor with a takeoff time of 3:10. Our anchorage was very close to the inlet so we didn’t have far to go in the dark finding our way past the channel markers to get into the ocean. As predicted, the winds had calmed down from the day before and the seas were 3 feet or less. All good in our book….The plan was to go straight east till we hit the Gulf Stream than take a heading of 085 and head for Little Bahama Bank, north of Memory Rock. From that point we headed to Great Sale which would be our anchorage for the night. Travelling in the dark is never fun even with radar; we were happy that we had no issues and were glad to see the light hit the horizon in the morning. We hit the Little Bahama Bank eight and a half hours later glad as usual that it was over although we still had another eight and half to go.

You can see the line of lighter water which indicates you are on the banks

As the light was beginning to fade on the banks it became foggy which is unsettling to travel in but we had to continue on with nowhere to stop.

Our first Bahama sunset on the banks

We could have anchored on the banks but like I had said the weather window was to be a short one and sometime early morning the winds were due to pick up and being anchored on the banks with strong winds is something I don’t want to deal with. Once again our radar was saving our butts and we appreciated it. As we approached Great Sale we saw a few lights emerge out of the fog of other boats anchored. There were only 4 others anchored so we had no trouble finding a place of our own to throw our own anchor out. So seventeen and a half hours after we left West Palm Beach we were anchored in the Bahamas ready to begin another cruising season. A few things were put away and very soon after that sleep was on the agenda. We decided to stay put here in Great Sale until Thursday as the winds are predicted to blow pretty steady all day. On Thursday morning Chris Parker said the winds would still blow but not as bad as the previous day. They were supposed to be15 to 25 out of the north and it’s not the best to travel in but we needed to move on. And move on we did with our sights set at Crab Cay. It was a long day with most of it spent heeling and getting splashed with salt water over the side. What I wouldn’t give for a full cockpit enclosure right now. It was 66 degrees out of the wind and it seemed like a lot less in it. By the time we set the hook it was all I could do to whip up a little bite to eat and haul myself to bed as there was to be more of the same in the morning. Friday we pulled anchor at at about 8:30 with Green Turtle in our sights as we have yet to check into the Bahamas. By lunch we anchored off the government dock and Dirk went into customs to get the paperwork done. I will add what I have found out regarding the length of stay that can be gotten right now. There have been numerous reports of cruisers this year only receiving a 30 day cruising permit at a time. At the end of that time you must go back to customs to request another. It seems like anywhere that every customs office makes its own rules up depending on how they are feeling for the day. Our buddy boat and we both received 90 days so at that time we will request another 90 and continue cruising. We then pulled anchor and headed into White Sound to grab a slip at the Green Turtle Club Marina. After checking in the first thing on the agenda was to grab a nice hot long shower. We will go grab a meal later as the marina special right now is that whatever you eat or drink gets deducted from your slip fee. Sounds good to me but remember, we are in the Bahamas now and it won’t take too long to run that tab up. So now this is the start of our new adventure. Time to quit running every day, take a breath, sit back, relax and enjoy. Just hope the weather decides to be Bahama weather rather than what our friends are experiencing back home right now.

Finally broke the bonds of Vero Beach

Vero certainly was a stop that we wanted to make but we really didn’t have intentions of staying as long as we did. But then I don’t think many people do, it just happens. As I had said before, Vero is actually very cruiser friendly with the availability of getting what you need where you need. The bad thing however is sometimes it makes shopping too easy, thus spending money like it was burning a hole in our pocket. Let’s just say that it was time to move on as it was becoming too expensive to be here. We spent Christmas along with our friends Barbara and Klaus from s/v Klabara on board Tybee Time. I made a glazed ham along with the corn casserole I had been craving for some time. Klabara brought over red cabbage, dumplings with wonderful gravy and I made a nicely spiked rum cake for desert. We were gonna head to the boaters lounge for drinks and conversation with the other boaters but it had soon turned dark and had gotten too cold for any of us to want to brave the dinghy ride to do so. So instead we stayed here, drank warm gluehwein and watched a Jeff Dunham special. The weather had been cold and it was getting colder. Isn’t this Florida? Lucky for us we had bought that heater, but my goodness were we going through some propane. Your kind of limited as to how much you can buy, by the amount you can carry. Any boater knows that buying it from West Marine will put a major dent in the cruising kitty but the only other places were Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Wal-Mart which required switching buses and a longer commute. A few times we just bit the bullet and handed the money over to West Marine. Several nights we saw temperatures in the 20’s which didn’t allow the days to warm up too much. We spent our evenings keeping busy playing cards,

eating, and watching several movies we had purchased just for this reason. So with no weather to travel we stayed put and celebrated New Years Eve also in Vero. New Years day we looked at the weather and decided we needed to head south and so the following morning we paid our dues to the marina, untied ourselves from Klabara and slipped off the mooring ball. As we hit the south end of the mooring field Dirk blew the conch horn to say farewell to some new friends made, Kathy & Earl from s/v Seeker.

I have been in touch with Kathy for quite some time now as they own a 39 O’Day and well you tend to know others that own the same boat as you. I’m sure we will cross paths again as they are headed the same direction soon. We made our way to Jensen Beach Bridge and spent the first night in a long time anchored, and un-rafted. The following day we headed to West Palm Beach and it was what seemed like the land of bridges. When we left West Palm in June we had traveled the outside, I now know why. There are several fixed bridges that we could go under no problem but then you have 3 bridges that open on the half hour and one that is quarter after and quarter till. Well these bridges are situated so that when you go through the first one you have to race to get to the next and so on. If the bridge tender is late in opening or you have a current working against you, you may not make the next bridge, thus causing you to wait 30 minutes for the next opening. It’s not like you can pull over and park your boat while waiting, usually you have numerous fishing, pleasure boats that can make it under zipping past you left and right as you sit in the middle of the channel turning circles. It can be quite the nail biter at times and mentally wears you out. At least it does me and a lot more other boaters I have talked to. Finally we made it through all the bridges and picked our way to the south anchorage past the inlet and threw the hook out.Hopefully this will not be our home for long as we wait for the magical weather window in order to cross over the Gulf Stream and make it back to the Bahamas. The one nice thing here is that the weather has been warmer and we wore shorts for the first time in a long time. The water is clear enough that you can see the bottom so Dirk took advantage and dove in to clean the bottom of Tybee Time of all the slime build up from just sitting all that time. Unfortunately when he went down he noticed that our prop shaft zinc was missing, not good. The zinc on a boat is a chunk of lead used as a sacrificial metal to protect the exposed metals such as props, through hulls and so forth from being destroyed and eaten by stray current in the water. It’s difficult to explain if you’re not knowledgeable about how electrical current works on your boat when it’s plugged into shore power. Bottom line is that if your zinc is gone the current attacks the good stuff. How and when it came off, we don’t know but we had put a new one on in July when we had the boat hauled in Beaufort, NC. So the zinc was gone and our prop took the abuse. Dirk noticed the blades of the brass prop were beginning to have the edges eaten away. It wasn’t enough to cause any problems yet as it had been a while since we had been in a marina for any length of time but we felt we needed to get a spare prop and prop puller before heading to the Bahamas. Lucky for us we found a company in Washington State that could make it and ship it same day so that we could receive it the next. All the others were several hundred dollars more and wanted six weeks to get it in. Leave it to Dirk, he knows how to shop around. So now we sit, hopefully not too long here and wait along with several others for the weather to cross. Hopefully the next post you see is great news saying we finally made it.

Thanksgiving in Titusville and onto Vero Beach

Titusville was to be our next stop and since we had been running everyday for several days we decided to take a break for the Thanksgiving holidays. The Titusville municipal marina was having a special of pay for two days get the third day free. Hummmmm, free is always good in our book so we took advantage of it and docked for three days enjoying the availability of long hot showers and of course catching up on some laundry.Above is Klabara & Georgia E following us as we had just passed under the Haulover Canal right before Titusville

Everyone took advantage of the water and used oil drop off to do much needed oil changes and boat wash downs. This past summer we had stopped here for fuel on the way north but had anchored up instead of docking. So far as a ship store goes they have a fairly good selection and their prices are very reasonable. Plus the staff was friendly and helpful which is always a plus in our book. The manatees seemed drawn to this place and on any given day you would see several just lounging about or positioned next to a boat washing down hoping to get some fresh water runoff.
They afforded our Canadian buddy boater friends a close up look at something only seen in photographs or at a distance before. The sad fact is that a few of the manatees seen day after day were covered with scars caused from a too close of an encounter with a boat. One actually had an open wound that was severely swollen and looked to be very painful.Thanksgiving day we were picked up By Dawn & Harvey whom we had met in March in the Bahamas on board S/V Sovereign Swan. We traveled together from the Abacos through the Exumas until we parted company in June to head back to the states. Sadly about two weeks after they returned to the states Sovereign Swan was destroyed in a fire caused by a neighboring boat. They are both still very distraught as they had put so much love and work into her. She was a gorgeous boat and we have many fond memories of times on board. Dawn & Harvey were kind enough to drive to Titusville to pick us up and take us to their church where we joined other folks and boaters that had no family around. The spread was incredible and if you left hungry it was your own fault. No one was allowed to leave without hauling a plate or two back with them. After cleaning up Dawn and Harvey drove us back to the marina and joined us aboard Tybee Time for a nightcap.Dawn left us with an incredible rum cake that she had baked and it didn’t have much chance on our boat of hanging around for too long.
On Friday we decided to head to Eau Gallie where we anchored for a quiet evening, than onto Vero Beach the following day. Dirk and I had passed it last year as we had to make tracks north, but we had heard so many great things about this place that we wanted to make a stop for a couple days to re-provision and do some other odds & ends. I had heard they raft you with other boats on the mooring balls but I had only seen rafting while at anchor, this should be interesting….We were going to be separated all on different balls with different folks until we spotted an open ball. We were then redirected to all take that ball. Dirk and I picked up the mooring first and readied bumpers on both sides of the boat with some additional lines. Klabara came in second along our port side and we did a quick job of securing them and then set about the task of having Georgia E come along our starboard side. After about a half hour we were all secured to the mooring ball and all secured to each other. Here all of us buddy boaters rafted together, not too far to go when you want to visit.

We are situated very close to a mangrove isle where daily we have an osprey sit upon his or hers tree and feed upon its catch. While here so far we have had s/v Ultra yet again catch up with us and also s/v Snoopy stayed a few days which allowed us to play catch up with them. The last time we had seen them was when we were in Wilmington. We also have finally met Kathy & Earl from s/v Seeker which is a 39 foot O’day. We have talked for about a year on facebook but have never caught up with each other in person before. Great is this lifestyle.....We have also realized why they call Vero Beach Velcro Beach, it grabs hold of you and well, it doesn’t like to let go. What was supposed to be a few day stop here has turned out to be almost a month. This town is very cruiser friendly as the public bus comes right to the marina so you don’t have far to walk and has stops right outside Wal-mart doors as well as the mall, West Marine, and a lot of other places us cruisers need to go. Your only limited by what you can pack mule back on your body. I have found I can really carry a lot of weight when I have a problem deciding between on what I want and what I really need. We will have to rent a car here one time in order to get the heavy & bulky items, plus we need to get kitty to the vet for his health certificate signed for the Bahamas. Ah, the health certificate….That’s another story..Last year I made the mistake of waiting till the last minute and ended up paying $50.00 to fed- ex the info in and get the paper fed-exed back to me. This year I took care of sending the paper work in with my $10.00 processing fee in early. Come a month later I had not received anything so we phoned the office up and after a few calls they were able to locate our stuff saying we should have received it already. Hummmmm, so they said since we had not that they would fax it to us which they did. About a week and a half later I received the original paper work they sent postmarked the same day in which we called. Hummmm, I think someone dropped the ball on that one but no biggie, at least we have it now. Note to self, next time send it out early and pay the extra five bucks to have it faxed back. Maybe there won’t be any problems then. On another note, it has been very cold here. We actually dropped into the 20’s a couple nights in a row which unfortunately caused a fish kill. You know the water has to be cold to do that. We did end up buying a Mr. Heater which is a small portable propane heater designed to be used indoors. I have to say it has been a lifesaver as we have no heat when we are not on a dock. Were hoping that soon we can put it away and break the shorts back out. There has only been one good window for crossing over to the Bahamas lately and we elected not to take it instead waiting on the next one. Klabara also elected to stay but Georgia E had to take it as they had guest coming into Marsh Harbor over Christmas. A couple days later we heard from them as they made it to Green Turtle where they checked in. So now we sit, enjoy Christmas and hope that perhaps soon there will be a window opening up in order for us to make tracks ourselves. Till next time...

A Tad Bit of Catching up to do

I agree, I have been a slacker and thus have fallen behind on the blog. I have tried to catch you up a little bit but still working on getting you current. Since the weather has turned cold and nasty we shall be staying put for a while and hopefully will afford me the opportunity to catch up all the way. So here goes...

We left Wilmington Island on the 8th of November and anchored that evening in Big Tom Creek. The following day we made it to South River and put the anchor down in a deserted area. The only thing negative we heard about this area is that you have lots of shrimpers going out to and returning from the sea, so we decided once the sun went down to turn our cockpit lights on just to make sure we were seen in case anyone came in or left in the dark. That evening we were greeted by a beautiful sunset,

and an early morning departure was put off for an hour due to fog so thick we couldn't see the shore line in front of us.Once we did get underway we made our way to St. Simons and anchored in the anchorage in front of the Morning Star Marina. We knew that S/V Ultra would be there as we had been in contact with them the previous day. We have been running into JoAnne and Bill since before we left Panama City last year when they were transients at our marina. Melissa the dock master from the marina had gotten to know them and loaned her car out so we could do some shopping and sightseeing around the city on Veterans Day. We ended up at the water front by the lighthouse where they were having a ceremony in honor of the Veterans so we hung around there a bit before wandering off to do some sightseeing and re-provisioning.

We also took the time to head out to the airfield as they had the Liberty Belle, a B-17 Flying Fortress on display. We got there just in time to see her taxi down the runway and take off so it was nice to see history right before us. I have to say, she is an impressive aircraft.

Here we are, JoAnne & Bill and Dirk & myself

The following day we bid farewell yet again to s/v Ultra and made our way to Cumberland Island where we spotted a couple of the wild horses grazing as we were entering the anchorage. We were suppose to head into Fernandina onto a mooring ball but they were booked so we opted for an anchorage instead.Guess everyone enjoys the Fernandina area and many stay several days for R&R. That was our plan...The next morning we called ahead and they said there was a mooring coming available at about 11am, perfect as we would be arriving just about that time. We headed to the fuel dock to fill up diesel and top off the water tanks and ended up having to sit and wait as the person on the mooring ball was having problems and couldn’t leave. They assured us they would find a spot for us, just to hang out for a bit and they would accommodate us. We sat on the docks chatting with other cruisers which always seem to be the norm anytime we hit land. We really wanted to see Fernandina since we had been through this past summer. It was so pretty but we didn’t have the time to see it before. This time we stayed four days catching up on some much needed dirty laundry, walked the town and saw the sights, and met several new cruisers that I’m sure we will see again along our travels. On the 17th we finally let go of the mooring ball and said goodbye to Fernandina with an anchorage just north of the Sisters Creek Bridge in our sights. Above is a little sea bird that decided to catch a ride with us for a while.....
It was to be a short day so we were pretty sure we would be the first to be at the anchorage which is the way I like it. It’s a small anchorage so we were able to pick our way around until we found the best spot and dropped the hook. Later on two other boats came in and anchored one in front and one behind us. We all had the same idea of catching the bridge at the same time in the morning as they were I think only having one opening in the morning due to some maintenance issues so we had to make it through or be stuck. The following morning the boat anchored in front of us goes to pick up its anchor and ended up fouling its prop on its buoy line. So now the boats anchor is off the ground, the prop is fouled so it cannot move under power and there is a current quickly dragging the boat toward the bridge. I told Dirk I didn’t know whether to get my video camera or get on the radio and alert them of the impending disaster. Dirk grabbed the radio and told them if they had a second anchor they better deploy it now as they were headed for the bridge, the owner looked back and did a double take before running to the front and tossed his second anchor over which lucky for him was ready to go. We in the mean time were getting our anchor up just in case we needed to assist but the second anchor caught and stopped him before he went too much further. Poor guy ended up diving over the side to un foul his prop in water that was about 68 degrees. And to boot, it was a cool morning, poor guy. That's not the way I want to start my morning.We ended up getting through the bridge and made our way to St. Augustine where we took a mooring ball on the north side of the Bridge of Lions. We ended up meeting the boaters face to face and spent the first evening at a little place close to the marina called OC Whites getting to know each other over a couple beers at happy hour. Of course joking about the fact that one day you are the entertainment, one day you are entertained. Today they had been the entertainment. Klaus & Barbara have since become good friends along with Stu & Tony which were on the other boat anchored with us that day by the bridge. Dirk & I took a couple days and did the tourist thing walking around town, visiting the various shops and snapping many photos of the great architecture that the town has to offer.

We were due to leave on Saturday morning but decided to stay when we learned that they were doing the lighting of the city Saturday evening. What’s one more day when you have no place to be? We ended up going to the lighting ceremony with our new friends Klaus & Barbara from s/v Klabara and Stu & Tony from s/v Georgia E along with John & Nora from s/v Saber Tooth.

The city was lit and Dirk and I went and grabbed a bite to eat then headed back to the boat for a good night’s rest as we had an early departure the following morning.

Here is St. Augustine from our mooring ball that evening.

Today would be Georgia E’s time to entertain us and she did a good one. Actually it wasn’t so much entertainment as it was nerve racking. There is a place on the ICW called Matanzas Inlet that has been a source of frustration for many a boater as it shoals in a lot of the time. One does their best to listen to other boaters transiting ahead of them in order to get the best take on depths. We headed through staying close to shore and the red buoy as suggested, calling out depths to the two boats following us. We draw close to 5 feet with Klabara drawing close to that and Georgia E drawing 6. Hummmm we bumped once which wasn’t going to be nice for them. Before we knew it they were aground and we still had an outgoing tide which meant we had to unground them or they would be stuck for hours. Dirk managed to get the dinghy off the davits as I kept the boat steady in the skinny channel and went to retrieve Georgia E's anchor to try and kedge off. This would entail Dirk taking their anchor out to some spot in deeper water, drop it and hope it catches as they begin to pull it in and hopefully pull themselves off the sandbar. No such luck, they were stuck. A passing motor yacht about 65 feet long offered to try and pull him off so Dirk did the work of transferring lines back and forth as both Klaus and I did our best staying inside the channel counteracting the current to stay close. It was a struggle but Georgia E finally was able to be pulled free. Geeeeeze, what next? Since the area between St. Augustine and Daytona has anchorages so few and far between we elected to take a marina in Palm Coast for the evening. The three of us travelling together got docked and met on s/v Klabara for sun downers and to discuss the next day’s adventure. Early to bed and early to rise for the next leg of the journey down to Daytona where we anchored in a somewhat crowded but big anchorage. My sister was in the area so we took the dinghy to the nearest dock and met her along with two of my nieces and went out to dinner to try and do some catching up. She is also our mail collector so we were greeted with many pounds of magazines and mail to go through. Yippie... We only had a few short hours to visit but it is always better than not seeing them at all. Big thanks go out to Kathy for taking her time to drive and meet us, we really appreciate how you take care of us. So folks, that's enough catching up for right now. Don't want to bore you to complete tears and hoping that soon we will be within those Bahamian waters.