Merry Christmas to everyone.  We are in Rum Cay.  Weather is sunny and low 80's.  The wind is about 10 knots from the east and there are some white caps that slap the bow every once in awhile. We plan to celebrate in the little town of 27 residents with a few winter residents.  They hold the celebration at Kaye's bar and I will post pictures tomorrow.

We miss you all so much, but we will enjoy these beautiful blue waters and memories until we get to see you again some day.

Rum Cay

Good morning from Rum Cay.  We made it here on Wednesday, December 18th at day break.  it is a small settlement with only 30 local residents and about 100 winter residents.

Our journey started on Monday the 16th when we left Governor's Harbor in Eleuthera.  We had clean laundry, some extra potatoes, carrots, and cabbage and some fond memories of this place.  We attended a movie at the Globe Princess Theater sneaking Bentley in inside of a canvas bag.  We ate a fish dinner at the weekly Fish Fry by the beach.  We walked four miles over a hill onto the other side of the island to swim in the Atlantic Ocean.  Thankfully we were able to hitchhike back as we weren't looking forward to climbing back up over that hill.

We left the harbor at 9:45 am and motored in calm seas flying the Genoa sail when the winds permitted.  We did 85 miles in 22 hours.  We stopped for diesel fuel in Powell Point at the southern tip of Eleuthera.  The bright full moon was a wonderful aid to our travels.  We anchored off a beautiful resort in Fernandez Bay on Cat Island at 7:45 am.  It looked like a perfect place to spend some time waiting for the expected strong east winds to arrive by Thursday.

But the captain felt we needed to keep going with the light winds we are having, so another night of sailing over night.  We sailed off into the sunset at 5:15 for a night of motor sailing in calm seas and full moon light.  Our shifts were the same as last night..  I slept from 6:00 - midnight.  Will slept from 1:00 - 5:00.  This probably doesn't seem fair with me getting six hours and Will only four, but believe me it isn't easy to fall asleep at six, so I usually only got about 4 or 5 hours myself.  What do
you do when sailing through the night?  We have an automatic pilot, so we set our course and monitor it on a regular basis.  We watch radar periodically.  Will likes to listen to down loaded PBS on his ipod and I like playing games on my Ipad. You do a lot of thinking and hoping all goes well through the night.  Bentley cuddles up with whoever is resting.

After 13 hours we make landfall at Rum Cay at 6:15 am and a total of 60 miles. We put sails away, enter Port Nelson harbor and drop the anchor at 9:45 am.  The water is aqua blue and clear as drinking water.  However, there is a surge from the ocean so there will be some rocking and rolling.  Will put on a bridle to turn the boat into the waves so we pitch forward and back like a hobby horse instead of rolling from side to side.

We ventured into town yesterday to get gasoline for our outboard dingy engine.  We were met my Eden the local police officer and got a ride in the police car to Jefferson's home where he distributes the petrol out of drums and a siphon.  We needed four gallons and Eden waited for us to fuel up our jerry can.  Then he was happy to give us a ride back to the dock with a stop at the local grocery store.  The pickings were thin.  The produce is in the cooler and the meat department is in the deep freezer.  We purchased eggs, cabbage, a bag of carrots and 4 potatoes for $10.00.

So it looks like this will be our home for Christmas.  The east winds today are in the 20 to 25 knot range, so we may not even make it to shore.  Bentley is always anxious to get to land, but he is a hardy sea dog and will make do with the fore deck if necessary.

We wish you all a relaxing weekend and a stressless beginning  of the week in preparation for Christmas.  I am sure there is lots of shopping going on, something we don't have here in paradise.  I do not miss Wal Mart but a Publix or Harris Teeter would be a nice Christmas gift from Santa.

We are now in what feels to me like New York City.  There are grocery stores, gas stations, internet, and a very old but beautiful library.   We are on Governor's Harbor, Eleuthera.

We arrived in Eleuthera on December 4th and haven't seen any of the above mentioned luxuries in over ten days.  Our first stop was a horseshoe shaped cove called Royal Island.  Did our usual anchor before sunset, eat dinner , dingy Bentley into shore, watch an episode of a series we like called 24, and then in bed my 7 or 8 pm.  

Moving on we went east towards Current Cut which is exactly what the name implies...current flowing through a cut.  We anchored off the settlement there and enjoyed our walk into the quaint little town

Made it through the cut at slack tide with no problems and crossed over to Gregory Town.  The winds were strong from the east, but we motored through them enjoying the rainbow as we plowed along for 5 hours.  We arrived at a small anchorage called Annie's Bight.  We are surrounded by high rocky cliffs and room enough for only us.

Gregory Town was once the pineapple growing capital of Eleuthera, but now it is a small quiet 

community that has suffered through many hurricanes.  The school which once over looked the

harbor stands deserted and falling apart.  The bell once hung on it's yellow and green walls.  All the schools in the Bahamas are the same color.  The stone church has stood throughout many storms.

Loved the clinic and post office sign.  We wondered if it was still active.  Heading out again after our walk around for a few hours, we again were faced with strong SE winds we were forced to head into Hatchet Bay, the safest Harbor in Eleuthera and the home of Alice Town.  We met our great friend Fred in this harbor on our first cruise to the Bahamas.  This year we are the only boat here and we tackled many boat chores.  The walk through town looking for a grocery store was unfruitful and after a few days, I feel claustrophobic.

This school could use some playground equipment.  There were no other play things and the basketball net needs replacing.

We left on December 11th and had much better winds and no waves, so we were able to make great time to make it to Governor's Harbor by 3:30.  We made a quick stop at Alabaster Cay and took a swim.  It was the first time I was in the water since being in the Bahamas.  Will goes into the water every time we anchor to hand set the anchor. 

So today we sit at Da Perk having coffee while we do laundry.  The road to the laundry is shared with much garbage, crumbling old homes, and chickens.   

We plan to be here until Monday, December 16th and will continue moving south. We will wait to see what the winds look like, but hope to male it to Rum Cay via Cat Island.  

Time for an update!   We did get a new elbow made for the exhaust system, and we rented a car to drive to Marsh Harbor to pick it up on Friday afternoon.  Then up early Saturday to take advantage of having a car we drove to the settlement called Cherokee south of Marsh Harbor.  It is a quaint little town of 300 people.  They do have a school.

We left Treasure Cay on Sunday morning and crossed the Sea of Abaco to Great Guana Cay.  We

hooked onto a mooring ball and hopped into the dingy to head to the Pig Roast at Nippers.

Nippers is an ocean side bar on a hilltop.  It is very colorful and has two pools and great views.

Bentley loved all of the attention he received and helped clean the deck of any dropped morsels of 

food.  The next morning we walked the town, which took about a half an hour, and found the

house where our friend John was born.  

We headed south in rainy, windy weather towards Hope Town on Elbow Cay.  The entrance is 

shallow, so we decided to anchor to wait until high tide which would be around sunset.  We put 

out an anchor, but we weren't able to get it set, so out went another anchor.  We still found that

we dragged 200 feet in the 20+ knot winds.  So not a relaxing wait, but finally made it into the

harbor before dark.  Again a mooring ball, but plenty to chose from as there are very few boats

here.  We have found that there are far less cruisers this trip, maybe because we are two or three 

months earlier than our last trips or lots of sailors are still waiting to cross over.  This November

has been unusually rough weather wise.

Leaving Hope Town this morning I figured this would be my last chance to have internet service until

we reach Eleuthera.  We hope to cross over the Northeast Providence Channel on Thursday.  We miss you all and hope you continue to follow our progress.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Yesterday was another  day of sitting on the boat with rain and winds.  I feel bad for people that are here on vacation.  Will went into town to speak to a mechanic about the hole we have in the exhaust system.  It is called an elbow and only someone in Marsh Harbor can fix it.  Will was able to get some temporary parts from and auto shop and also found a prop store that will make a replacement for it.

Abaco Travels

As we sit in our safe anchorage in Treasure Cay, Abacos, Bahamas, we listen to the wind and rain pounding on to the boat.  But we are safe, dry, and full of memories of our first week in the Bahamas.  Plus we have internet for the first time in a week.   All the comforts of home...well almost all.

Our trip from West End to Treasure Cay included three stops along the way.  

Wednesday, Nov 20th. We left the dock at West End at 6:30 am.  We motor sailed most of the way arriving at 4:30 pm.   We had sun in the morning and clouds building during the afternoon.  We saw no other boats on our northerly track to Grand Cay.   The captain discovered a slow leak in the exhaust system which he will monitor.  Anchored the boat and prepared the dingy to go ashore which meant hoisting it off the bow of the boat and hoisting the dingy engine off the stern of the boat and attaching it.  All this was done as quickly as possible, but darkness and rain cut that adventure short.  

The reason for our excitement to go to shore is that I have a plastic bin full of books to give to a little boy I met here in June, 2012.  He said he had no books to read and would I bring  him 20!  His name was DeAngelo, and I had a picture of him walking Bentley around the settlement.

Thursday, Nov 21st. We all leave the boat at 8:00 am and walk with our bin towards the school.  We pass a mother and her three children and ask if they know DeAngelo...they answered that he moved to Nassau.  No!!  I showed them the picture, and they said the boy in the picture was Keenan and he is in third grade.  School starts at 9:00.   We arrived at 8:30 and Keenan showed up at the office with his mother.  We showed her the picture and she agreed that was 
Keenan.  Keenan stood looking at me like I was a ghost...he didn't remember me or walking Bentley.   We took the bin of books to his classroom and opened it up on his desk.  His eyes grew larger and larger as he picked out books he liked.  He gave a few to his teacher and one to each of his classmates...12 in all! Happiness for everyone, especially me!   Was it really the boy I met a year and a half ago, or just a lucky little boy that looked like DeAngelo!   I guess I will never know.

We returned to the boat by 11:00 am and raised the anchor which had collected a window frame from a house and a 10 foot steel rebar.  No wonder we didn't drag last night.  We had good winds for sailing and were enjoying our motor sail, when the engine sputtered and quit at 1:30 in the afternoon.  So we sailed in 20 knot winds at close reach with only half of the jib sail out.  We entered Great Sale Cay, a large basin of water in the shape of an inverted V, and dropped anchor.   Will bled the fuel lines and the engine started up right away.


Friday, Nov 22nd. Watching and studying the weather is an important part of traveling any where on a boat.  So we use different weather sources and recently the news hasn't been good.  A strong wind system is arriving by Sunday and mariners are cautioned to find safe haven.  We need to get to Treasure Cay, our safe haven of choice, by Sunday at noon and we have 75 miles to travel to get there.  But today isn't going to be suitable for that.  We have strong 25 plus winds from the East, and that is the direction we need to go.  Tomorrow is predicted to be much lighter, so we will try Saturday instead.  Today we enjoyed the unpopulated beauty of this Cay with a walk on the beach with ruins of some type of construction and a dingy ride around the basin. 

Saturday, Nov 23rd.  We pulled anchor up at 4:00 am and motored in ENE winds under 10 knots.  The exhaust is still leaking but we are still plugging on.  We tried to sail but the winds dropped to below 5 knots, and we picked our destination for the night....Cooper Town on the Great Abaco Island...leaving us 34 miles tomorrow.  

Sunday, Nov 24th. Another  early start...3:45 and passed a popular stopping point...Green Turtle Cay at dawn.  The day so far is sunny and light winds.  We make it to Treasure Cay by noon and drop anchor in the basin outside of the resort/marina area.  And then the winds came!!  At 4:00 we had 30 to 4o knot winds with rain squalls, and the anchor is dragging.  We put out another anchor and 200 feet of anchor chain, which seemed to hold.  We monitored it most of the night.  

Monday, Nov 25th. We moved to a mooring ball....three plastic jugs tied to a secured line on a huge concrete block.  However, our cautious still dove down to check the lines.   We finally feel secure and will remain here until we fix the exhaust system leak and spend some time with our island friends Cathi and John Cash.


  Miss you all.

We arrived in West End on Grand Bahama Island at 9:00 am.
We left our anchorage at 3:00 pm and headed under the last lift bridge we will see in many months.  

Leaving the harbor in Miami was exciting. We heard a USCG notice that the main channel was closed to traffic on account of cruise ships, so went out the south channel. Altogether 5 cruise ships went out in the two hours we were getting well out to sea. Then a couple of freighters and cruise ships crossed our path early evening. All routine, though I slowed down once when the angle between Vaura and a cruise ship wasn't changing, to let him pass ahead of us.

We hit Gulf Stream current almost immediately, about three miles out. I found a lead angle of 25-30 degrees necessary to keep us on schedule for West End, then lessened the angle about 20 miles from WE. Still getting familiar with GS effects.  We motored the entire way and did two hour shirts at the helm.  The full moon was a delight as we were able to see the horizon all night.

We made it to the marina just as they opened at 9:00 a.m. The weather forecast update as we arrived looked pretty nasty for the rest of the week, but looks better this morning. So we may go off to Grand Cay in the light winds and rain at first light.

Pictures will follow us I am unable to use my laptop with the poor internet service.

Sunny beautiful warm day in Miami as we decide when to leave the United States.  Weather is a major factor when crossing over to the Bahamas.   We need winds that will fill the sails, waves that are gentle, and a strategy to make use of the Gulf Stream that moves from south to north as we head west to east.   Sounds confusing and a little scary, and it is.  We feel we are prepared.  Bentley has final paperwork signed by a Miami veterinarian, new camera, beer, wine, canned goods, toilet paper, toothpaste, extra batteries, and so many other things that are hard to find or are too expensive over there.   As of right now we will leave tomorrow afternoon, so early in the morning we will buy our final supply of fresh fruits and vegetables and bread and meat.

Last night our neighbors...the huge motor yacht..by the way there are two yachts in front of the house, had a wedding.  We were able to listen to some parts of the vows and listen to the music and laughter of the people attending. It didn't keep us awake, however, I was up by 4:30 and the music was still playing.   Happiness is every where!

November 14   We have had some adventures on our way down the ICW.  One of our stops was in Vero Beach where we spent some time with Nancy Jo.  She had us over for dinner on her ocean view patio on the 13th floor.

Then on to West Palm Beach where we met our great friend Cathi for a quick visit.  Our travels on the ICW from here took four days and 27 lift bridges.  Some opened for us on request, others we had to wait for their scheduled openings.  Captain Will navigated through all of them with ease...except for one!  The
Spanish River bridge south of Del Ray beach was a challenge.  We were ready to pass through the bridge at 10:30 but as the bridge tender was opening the spans, one of the spans was stuck.  Will put
the boat into reverse, and as we tried to shift to forward the gear shift was stuck.  We drifted towards
some mangroves and stuck in the mud.  Will was able to fix the gear shift problem within a half hour, but the tide was falling, and we called Tow Boat US to help us off.  At 2:30 we passed under the bridge.

We continued on to Gilbert's in Key Largo to spend time with our Bahama cruising friends Nancy and Andy.   We spent four days at this Tiki resort and enjoyed every minute of our time with them.

Now we are in one of our favorite anchorages in South Miami.  We enjoy going into town in our dinghy and exploring many of the canals in the area.  We are in a large body of water near Sunset Lake and are surrounded by very large luxurious homes and yachts.  This is one of our neighbors.

We have been having some strong north and northeast winds, but we are well protected.  We have enjoyed going to shore in the dingy and exploring the many canals that run through this area.  Next stop will be the Abacos in the Bahamas.  We just need to have the right weather window to cross over

Day 10.  We had an awesome weekend at Cocoa Village Marina attending a Westsail Association gathering.  We met wonderful new friends, all who own or are associated with the same boat as ours.  They are different sizes and have different layouts, but they are all beautiful sea worthy boats.  

We left on Sunday and found a new anchorage that we loved...Melbourne Beach.  Lots of historical sites and a beautiful place to walk around.  I especially loved the small track of the Melbourne & Atlantic railroad that was marked from 1889.  My father's father worked for the railroad, and I never met him.  But I enjoy hearing the trains go by our different anchorages every morning as we travel south.  So this brought fond memories of stories my dad told me of him.