Jan 29-30

January 29

Busy Day!! Moved the boat over to Stocking Island in the morning...ugh... really rolly over there so we moved back in the afternoon.

We had a Regatta meeting and got lots more volunteers, so today I need to get the work done for Jeanne and we can post the schedule and information.

After Cordell gave his talk to the boaters, we sat down and had an in-depth conversation.

Met an artist on Magic Dolphin...not your Magic Dolphin, Quentin, and he is working with the kids in St. Andrews teaching them to paint coconuts. We spent a long time talking about art, and his objectives.

We came back to the Kidd Cove side and 'parked' then went over to meet Blue Heavens. We went with them to the Trivia night at St.Francis...Gordon's really smart! And we won!!!Woo-hoo!

In the middle of the night the wind came up and the next "norther" is blowing through now. We checked the instruments around 4 am. I am neurotic about dragging!

This morning the boat next to us, Pearl, the British trawler, not the sailboat Pearl, reported that they had rescued a dinghy off the shore...ours!!! Crap! The rope frayed through overnight and we lost it this morning! It was there when we looked out at 4 am, but when I went out to turn on the radio, I was so focussed on Barabas Rock behind us that I never noticed the dinghy was gone!!

They brought it back and it is fine. Rick started it and pumped it out, and up. Still haven't found the leak, but as long as we have the pump with us, we're good!

One more chapter in the "Book of Stupid"...

January 27-28

Jan 28

Yesterday we spent the day wandering around town. We were supposed to set up the t-shirt stand but we didn't have enough volunteers. We got the lemon tree delivered and a christophene and a ginger plant as well. If we have something that starts to grow, I can't cut it up and eat it, so we plant it.

I gave Rick a haircut...he was starting to look pretty shabby.

Today we spent the day putting up and painting the stand and selling the shirts. We were going to move over to Sand Dollar but we crashed early, so we will move tomorrow morning.

Not much is going on yet. We aren't in the Rake and Scrape mood yet. More boaters are starting arrive... Anneteak got here today and Pearl arrived yesterday! YAAAY! Happy to see you guys!!

 

Moving crew

Jan 23-26

January 22

When we arrived in the harbour, we went into the Litter Pan...a part of the harbour that only shallow draft boats [cats] can use. We got in, anchored and settled in for the night.

Jan23

Next morning on the cruiser's 'net the weather was supposed to start ramping up by noon, and it did...clear skies appeared after the front line when through [you saw the pics] and THEN it clouded up around noon. We watched and only saw winds that maxed out at 28 knots but we have a shorter mast than most.

We rode the storm all night but we were fine.

Jan 24

The next day the winds died and settled out around 15-20 knot. We went to town and got water and diesel. We also got some groceries. Interesting...the storm knocked out the power to the high school on the other side of the island, so some of the kids were off school.

We went for diner on Blue Heavens. Gordon made awesome chilli and we had a great night. 

Jan 25.

Happy Birthday C-Soul [Gail] and Stryder [Brent]. Today was another calm and settled day so we moved the boat out of the Litter Pan to in front of the Exuma Yacht Club. It looks like Lagoon city here but there is another Prout in this anchorage.  It's a German or Swiss boat called ZOIE.

Jan 26

Today was a great day for me!  When I went to town with Jeanne, I met Nelson Ranger in person! We are facebook friends. I also met Reggie Smith, who is very involved with the local sailing school and the Family Island Regatta. We had a very interesting meeting. Rick took me to Peace and Plenty for my birthday dinner, and I saw Mrs. Adderly, one of the teachers I worked with last year, as well as Jillian, and Rashad, the crazy dancing kid! Great day!

January 23

This is what our front line looks like this morning...winds around 202-22 knots ?? Supposed to be up around 35 knots . It was over us and then moved southeast. Missed us???

More January 22

SO, the saga continues...

We went hard aground in front of one of the Musha Cay cabins...automatic lights on a timer, but the voices were probably my imagination.

Anyway, according to the tide tables we weren't going to get off the sandbar until 2-3 am. It was so still...but I couldn't sleep. The wind generator was screaming all night and I was extremely pissed off. [Sailing is supposed to fix my blood pressure!]

Around 1:30 am, I got up because we were bumping bottom. I waited until around 2:00 to wake Rick up and we tried again...several times. Finally at around 2:30 success... we got off and went over to the channel and anchored there in 9 feet. He only put 25 feet down thinking we would hold in that but he had me back down on it.

 You'll never guess what happened...the rope from the dinghy anchor had blown out of the dinghy and, you guessed it... I backed over it. Only this time we had no line cutter. Luckily we were only in 3 feet of water. I held a flashlight and  the dinghy off the back deck while he used a diving knife, a hammer,  screwdriver and wrench in the dark in surging seas, [ because now we're floating in the channel], to remove the prop, untangle the line and re-install the propeller, all without losing any of the pieces!!! Not that we couldn't have found them in the crystal clear water but neither of us wanted to go swimming at that time of night ...or morning.

At 4:00 am I got up and saw that we were dragging...100 feet...back to the sandbar. I woke him up and we re- set the anchor and went back to bed. I don't think either one of us slept at that point.

We were up at 6:30 and ready to go. The winds started at 12 knots and ramped up to 22 by the end of the day, but we got here intact. We were motor-sailing between 5-7 knots and when we finally hit the harbour, I turned off the motor and we sailed down the Sound at 4.5 knots with just the jib close hauled. Non-sailors won't be impressed, but those who sail know that's not bad, especially for a cat!

A few people have suggested that I should write a book. I would call it:

 "How many stupid things can two people do on one sailboat?" 

Jan 22

HA! t's 2:30 pm and the anchor is down in the litter pan in Georgetown! We went outside from Musha Cay through Rudder Cut to Elizabethtown Harbour [about 50 miles] and wait til you hear the rest of the story...later. I need to chill a bit!

Jan 21

January 21

So today is not so nice a day. The sky is clear but the winds are building...right on the nose of course. It's noon, we are almost at Staniel Cay [Harvey Cay waypoint] and we have about 20 miles to go before we are off this pounding sea. We are only in 19 feet of water so that is the real reason it's rough. We have only 13 knots of wind but we are still going 4.5 knots into it. Power boaters think this is cool...I don't like it at all.  The best seat is the helm seat and frankly, it's boring there too!  I used to want to drive all the time; now I'd rather do chores. We need Auto back!!

We will be in a sheltered bay tonight and if the day pans out like it's predicted we will be in Georgetown tomorrow before the storm starts.

So, Bruce wants to hear more about the Blue Marlin. Well...at 1107 in the am when neither of us was paying any attention to the rod, the Marlin hit. It took the entire line and we thought maybe we'd [he'd] caught a whale. The rod snapped as he was trying to reel it in and so he had to hold both pieces and hand line it. Took 40 minutes..not bad for an old man. And he didn't even want a pillow for his stomach...but he sure was hurtin' later.

He flipped it into the dinghy on the back deck...we have no gaff...oh , back up. We discussed fishing earlier that morning and we decided that we didn't a] have time,  or b] room in the freezer and since I don't even like fish and wasn't going to clean anything he caught...we wouldn't fish. See, we really weren't ready for one...no gaff.

Thank god it wasn't a 400 lb fish. we're going to have to more pciky about what fish we catch!

After the marlin flipped itself out of the dinghy and off the hook, having bled a little in it, we [he] lamented about the loss. I was glad...it's too beautiful to carve up. We also realized later that the dinghy was deflating. Did he poke a hole in it?? We don't know because we haven't had time to check it.

It's now 6:30 pm and we are waiting for low tide to turn here so we can get off the sandbank in front of Musha Cay. We [he] were admiring all of the houses that rent out fo

Sailing over a coral head

BLue Marlin

Looking down it's throat...beautiful colours

r $300k a week, wondering who would want to rent one and what they would do when we [he] ran aground. We [he] was following our track but the scale was so small he wasn't aware that the channel is only 100 feet wide and we[he] were 90 feet off. SHIT!!!

So we are eating beans and hotdogs [I'm not cooking...too pissed off] and we will wait for a bit of incoming tide to lift our ass off the bank. Wet threw the anchor out to deep water so as soon as we are floating, we will pull off and move. And right now EVERYTHING is annoying. I can hear voices on shore; the wind generator won't stop, and we are not quite sitting on bottom so instead of riding the waves, we are bumping. GRRRRR.  The only consolation is that we may actually be in Georgetown by mid afternoon tomorrow...unless of course the winds increase earlier than expected, from the south, or when we go out Rudder Cut, we.....never mind, I'm not going to say it.  Later. 

Jan 19-20

January 19

OMG what a perfect day!!! We left Cherokee Point in the amazing sunrise and we managed with the spinnaker [and motor] 6 knots average. We are about 3 miles from anchor at Sixpence or Six Shilling Rock, just inside the Fleeming Channel. That's a 60 mile day in 11 hours!!!

Last year on the way back we raced a thunderstorm to this point and managed to survive in 50 K wind so we figure we are good here. Quentin will remember that!!

It was dead calm today...no wind that did much good. We dropped the spinnaker half way across and ut up the big jib. Lots of other sailboats seemed to be "sailing" but probably motor sailing like us. AND THEY DIDN'T PASS US!!!!

The only excitement was Rick caught a blue marlin. It hit so hard it snapped the rod...here we go again... and he managed to handline it in. We didn't even know what it was til he got it into the dinghy. It flipped off the hook and jumped ship. Just as well...it was beautiful and I felt really bad for catching it. I hope it survived.

Tomorrow's weather will be the same. We've checked all the sites and there is no change forecast. The sky looks great...no clouds and the upper air is dry.  If there is any wind tomorrow we will go out to Exuma Sound and go down the outside of the islands.

Don't know when you will get to read this...don't think I can get the BTC tower on Eleuthera from the Fleeming Channel.

But we're good!

January 20

This morning was beautiful and calm...eerie too. It was almost foggy on the bank.

We raised the anchor at 6:50 and headed out to the Channel to cross from the Northeast Chanel [Atlantic] to the Bahama Bank. The water goes from 1000 feet + to 10-15 feet. In fact there were times we were running in 6 feet of water over the coral heads.  We could see the bottom so clearly it was amazing!

We were going to go outside the islands and run down the Exuma Sound, but we can motor just as fast in shallow water as deep, and with no wind...

The sky was a bit confused this morning...high cirrus clouds that seemed to be brushed from all directions but the further south we got the clearer the sky became. We can still see surface clouds up north, and we can see cloud banks that form over the land masses, but this is another awesome travelling day.      C-Soul, I wish you had come with us!!!  We would have been in Georgetown for our birthdays!!!

We averaged 5 knots yesterday...current and tides held us back a little. Today we are running about the same. 

There's not another boat is site. Sometimes I think we've gone to the end of the world...then an island comes into view.

Oh, just caught Highbourne's Internet ...and now there are boat...It's only 12:30 ad we are at Allen's Cay. think we will travel until 4 pm and see where we end up.

January 18

January 18

This morning we were up at 6:30 but didn't manage to get moving until after 8:30. C-Soul decided to stay in March Harbour so we set out on our own. Passed by Modaki to say goodbye, as well.

 We had great motoring weather!!   No wind, flat seas and brilliant sunshine all day.

When we got north of Lynyard Cay, we were surrounded by sailboats heading south so we went outside and sailed [ok, motored] down the ocean.  They probably thought we were insane. We had great soft swells and less than 1 meter [3 foot] waves...boring!

We decided that we would not do an overnight to Egg Island because even boring can be tiring, and we seriously need a shower!!

We turned into Cherokee sound...the water is crystal clear...there is NO swell to speak of right now and a friggin' long liner pulls in behind us and anchors in front of us!!!  So much for the privacy of a cockpit shower!!!

The water is 24 degrees down here. [It was 20.2 in Marsh Harbour] so we will go for a swim and wash off with soap when we are done. Hopefully they won't be cleaning fish while we swim here!!!

 

Watching the anchor chain

Cool cave on the beach beside us

Fishing boat looking for a good anchorage

Update: Swim/bath accomplished but its just not as good with a bathing suit on!

January 17

January 17

Yesterday we were going to go to the beach but as luck would have it, as soon as we started to make plans... the rains came. Rick worked on cleaning up the Navigation table so he can actually spread out his charts and work on them.I worked on cleaning up the dining room table and the galley and the head.

Last night we had Happy Hour on OtherGoose, and said goodbye to Diane and Andy. 

This morning we were away by 8:30 from Green Turtle Cay and we were in Marsh Harbour by 2:30 p.m.

HOLEEEECRAP! We changed the prop from 15/11 to 15/13. We managed to run 4-5 knots INTO the wind. Before we were lucky if we could do 2.5 into the wind !!!! This is going to be awesome!

We went into the town and met another boat Tatiana coming away from the dinghy dock. They weren't impressed with the town...first time in the islands. It's actually the third biggest town in the Bahamas. It's spread out more than Georgetown and has a lot more stores. Seems a little more sophisticated, and not quite as friendly.  There are still some small islands here that don't let black people stay on the island overnight!

We met up with MODAKI. Joe and Yvonne came back from Man-o-war Cay to see us. They were getting their sails fixed. We had a great talk!

Tomorrow e head out to the south end of Abacos to Cherokee Point. If we get there early enough we will keep going otherwise we will drop anchor there and head out over to Eleuthera on Thursday.

Man, I am beat...going to bed now.

Happy Hour last night

Joe and Yvonne MODAKI

Sunset in Green Turtle

Barge racing me into Marsh Harbr

Sunset tonight

January 15

January 15

Just another day in paradise... Rick changed the propeller today, and one of the bilge pumps that stopped working. 

We went over to Windreka for Happy Hour. We all took some appetizers that were "substantial enough" as Diane put it so we wouldn't have to cook dinner. C-Soul brought a chicken dish that had olives and cheese in it; Diane made mashed potato and smoked beef rollups and BBQ wieners. Maryanne brought cheese and crackers and veggies, and I made humus and tuna dips and tortilla breads. Made for an awesome dinner. We visited from 3:30-7:30. Days are just flying by!!!

Pics from Green Turtle

We had to go back to fill our flat tire

"Sundowners" but a private party so we couldn't go in

The Primary School

Still rolling ocean

Mark and Gail driving ...they're used to open prairie!

Beautiful hibiscus

Two way traffic!

January 14

January 14

I've finally lost track of time...no idea how many days we're been here. Every night we go to bed around 7 pm...maybe watch a movie or read. Asleep by 10 at the latest. We wake up in the middle of the night to a howling wind generator, and check the GPS to make sure we haven't dragged. In the morning Rick makes coffee and we compare the black sky to the weather report.

Some people have managed to head a bit further south but they were already passed the Whale..that incredibly wild passage between islands that boats who are deep draught [5-7 feet] have to take. We are still waiting for the "Don't Rock" shallows to smooth out so we can go over them.

The weather seems to be backwards here. Every night the winds get stronger and seem to die down mid-day, but that's when the tides are low, so we dare not cross the shallows at low tide. The plus side...when the sun is gone the wind are keeping our batteries charged. Of course, if we could leave here the motor would do that too!

Last night we all had dinner on C-Soul. We took our grill food, Gail made a great GF  pasta salad, Diane made corn pudding [almost like a corn sponge cake- awesome] and I made GF cherry cheese cake. Good times!

Today we rented a golf cart with Mark and Gail, and travelled the length of the island. It was a great 4-hour trek and we saw lots of it.

Tomorrow we are going to switch props to see if we can get some more speed out of our petit cochon.

So... 7:30...bed time.

Friday the 13th

January 13...OMG, it's Friday!!!

So we looked at the weather again today...not going anywhere. Sigh.

Gail from C-Soul has been trying to convince us that we need to move to Montana, and look at building a series of tiny houses in a community setting so that when we are all too old to sail, we can look after each other.  This is a great idea. We all have special skills. Mark, Andy and Rick are between them great mechanics and electricians and can fix anything. Diane and Gail are great cooks and very inventive with ingredients. I can and would clean anything. [Housekeeping at motel, remember?] and I am a great organizer..just ask me.

The only problem is that we are not American, and although they are all of the opinion that no-one would even care, we are not willing to risk out teeny-tiny pensions, to be illegal aliens...besides, god knows what Trump has in store for anyone he considers illegal...

However, at the bar, after several drinks, Gail had the perfect solution...she would marry Rick and I would marry Mark. I pointed out that she would then be stuck with 3 half-grandchildren, at which time she advised that..."no, nothing would change."  So already we're planning to cheat on each other ...hahahah.

We might have to consider an alternative.  But y'know, that may be the solution to homes for the aged. If more "families" would consider grouped communities for caring for each other, the government could re-direct a lot of resources to better use.  I, for one, would be more comfortable living with my siblings and/or children in a "compound" ...so, guys whaddya' think? Barb and I talked about this years ago. Probably should have brought the boys into it sooner. Hmmm

So it's raining on and off. Not sure we'll be able to do the picnic on the beach today. The sky was beautiful last night...a full moon and bright stars. Not this morning. They are burning the garbage and we are directly downwind, so between smoke, rain and wind, we are stuck here for now.

The seas are reported to be calming ... down to 6-9 feet today but by Monday should have dropped to 4-6 feet. Maybe we can get out by then and start south. Or at least to Marsh Harbour!

January 12

January 12

Today we went t town to get the phone set up...what a laff!  Rick said that the girl was reading off the posters on the wall when he asked questions about plans. We got some data that will do us as we head to Marsh Harbour in a couple of days. We'll get set up when we get to "civilization".

Okay... back up. We went over to town with Windreka and C-Soul in the dinghies...a nice day for it but no-one has any idea what the weather is like past here! Sea state, that it. Winds are not the issue...10 foot waves on the beam are the issue!

SO we get to the dinghy dock and met Paul from KNOT-AH-GAN. He said that Marianne had gone up to the phone office and they only take cash. Crap! There is no bank machine on the island and the bank [CIBC] is only open Thursday...luckily it's Thursday. So we go to the bank knowing that we will get charged a HUGE tax for using a non-Interac branch, and they cannot take a debit card. SO not only do we get charged the exchange rate, but a bank penalty for using the wrong bank and another charge for taking cash on our credit card. For a $30.00 phone card...I can't imagine what that will look like!!

We got to the phone office. It was locked so we sat on the steps to wait. Ten minutes later the door unlocks, she lets out some customers and tells us" I have to go to the bank. I'll be right back."

We sat on the steps for another 20 minutes and a woman pulled up across from the phone office to start dismantling Christmas decorations. I said to Rick, "I can't sit here and watch her do that by herself." So we went over to help About 20 minutes later, the phone lady came back. I let Rick deal with it...he's much more patient than I am these days, and I continued to help.

We went for lunch with everyone. I had some rice and peas and Rick had mac and cheese. We are back at the boat and its 5:00...boy, the time goes fast down here!  Tonight we will sit and watch a movie or I will read the Kindle Gail and Mark lent me...1500 sci-fi books ...yeehaw! Tomorrow we will plan a picnic on the beach ...blankets, food, coats, hats...

Trying to oranges on our walk...probably shouldn't have

ON the dock in Green Turtle Cay

Steps to keep you off the road and out of golf cart traffic

this bird liked Mark's motor better...doesn't slip off when he poops on it. Ours is too shiny and slippery new!

January 11

January 11

Well, today we tried to leave the bay. We got out of the swamp before the tide went out, and anchored behind Windreka e went over to say goodbye to C-Soul and Windreka, and left round 1:30. By 3:30 we were out pounding into a beam sea and getting ready to cross the shallows at "Don't Rock". It was so rough, we would have been bouncing off the bottom so we decided to turn around and go back to Green Turtle.  Took an hour. Oh well, if we didn't try we wouldn't have known. This weather absolutely sucks!!! And it isn't due to change or another 5-8 days!!

We met up with C-Soul and Windreka for drinks and dinner...needed that release. We were both really ticked that we weren't going to be able to get even to Great Guana.

Tomorrow we will do some more little jobs to keep occupied while we wait for the weather to turn.

Some pics that loaded!!!

West Rocks in the morning...no horizon...we went very slowly

Atlantic on the N. side of Green Turtle Cay. we walked over to have a look

This  little guy payed with us for almost 20 miles. Hope he got home okay!

January 8-10

Jan 8-10

Sorry I've missed posting for a few days. We have moved around into the "swamp" where we cannot pick up the internet.

We were on a mooring ball in Green turtle Cay for two days, but at $20/day it was going to be too expensive, so we moved into the shallow pond where only cats can fit. I love being on a cat!! We are anchored and settled here for another couple of day. We have seen winds on the anemometer up to 25 but nothing more than that. Of course when the wind generator ramps up we g out ad look but by that time the gusts have passed so we may have missed 30 or so, but nothing terribly scary. The seas however... we went for a walk with Andy and Diane from Windreka [Lady's Island 2 years ago...they're from Minnesota and familiar with Lake Superior] over to the Atlantic shore! Wow! The waves were enormous...not going out there any time soon!

Yesterday after we moved into the "swamp" we took the dinghy over to the other end of the island to Black Sound [we're in White Sound] to find "Old Rosie". We heard her coming in the day before but the weather was rough and we didn't want to interrupt their anchoring. "Old Rosie" is a motor sailor with Ben and Jane from Owen Sound!!! We had a good visit. Turns out they were anchored near us in Lake Worth and left the day after we did. They came in behind the big squall that hit us.

We were going to get our phone yesterday from Marsh Harbour but the winds were still up too high to get over there. Today is a "holiday" here [ Majority Rule Day]so it won't happen today. If I can get the laundry done [and use the internet over there while I'm waiting] we will head over there tomorrow and visit with Modaki and Beguiler before we move on down the islands. Got get going!

I would post pictures but this internet access is so unpredictable that it will kill my post if I mess with it, so sorry no pics right now.

January 3

January 3

Happy Birthday to Ted, my little brother... he won't read this, but his kids will see it. Give him a hug for me!

We're down in the bottom of Lake Worth about 500 yards from the Inlet.  It's like the beginning of any race or competition...everyone is antsy. There are about 50 boats waiting to leave in the morning; all to get over and anchored before the weather changes on Friday - Sunday.  We will probably be at the back of the pack, even though we are planning to leave around 5 am. We may be stuck for a few more days in the Abacos but at least we'll be over there!

Down here is a little nicer than the insanity we experienced at Jupiter, although the crazies maybe back at work. It's also around commercial shipping docks, so everyone has to be careful.

Speaking of which, if there are any ISMA  people reading this... not too impressed with Palm Beach Pilot boats! We came around Peanut Island to find a huge cargo ship backing up in the turning basin...no securite' and the pilot boat ran in front of us and parked...no radio message or warning.  A few hours later when it guided same boat out of the inlet onto the ocean, we could see all of its running lights...and the port light was on the starboard side. Again, no securite' to say that the cargo vessel was leaving in the dark.

We are going to bed early...like right now, so we are bright eyed and bushytailed for the morning's adventure. Right now there is a south wind of about 15 knots and the ICW is calm...if the ocean is like this it will be a piece of cake. Just don't expect to her from me for a few days til I get the Bahamas phone activated.

G'nite!

January 4-5

January 4

We set the alarm for 4:30 am.  Unfortunately, we did not check the time on the clock, and it woke us up at 2:30 am. After we got washed and started the kettle for coffee and breakfast, I opened the PC and saw the real time, so we shut everything down and tried to go back to sleep. Needless to say, we were NOT bright-eyed and bushy-tailed...more like, bushy-eyed and droopy-tailed when it went off again.

By 5:30 we were headed out the inlet and C-Soul was 10 minutes behind us, and by the time were on the ocean proper, past the Sea buoy, they were well past us.

We managed a fairly uneventful crossing to the edge of the bank.  As we approached the edge of the bank, the waves came up and a little dolphin ran ahead of us for miles, running back and forth across the bow and jumping in front of us. [See pics] reminded me of a little kid running around in a store. Where the heck is Mom??

Our speed picked up when we put the main away and went solely with the jib for a few miles. Of course the approaching squall might have had something to do with that. We were 15 miles behind C-Soul when it hit, and we had just wrapped the main with tie downs. This time Rick stripped off, and managed to get the bag over it, and drop the anchor in 20 knots and pitching seas. It was easier to dry his skin than the clothes but he was wearing a life jacket. The bank is only 25 feet deep, so wild waves off the deeper ocean are worse when they roll over the edge of the Banks. This was a quick low one because C-Soul couldn't see it on his radar and he was within 15 miles.

If it hadn't been dark, the approaching storm would have been awesome on camera. The night went from dark with a bit of moon to I-can't-see -anything black!  If he hadn't been wearing a headlamp, I wouldn't have been able to see him!  So we were a little too busy dropping 100 feet of chain in 25 feet of water to take pictures. We didn't drag!!

SO we pitched and rolled all night and got us at 7:30 to no wind and flat water. We left on our anchor light and our steaming light [not proper, I know, but when you don't see or hear anything, more light is better, because some of these idiot boaters let Auto drive and go below with no lookout.

This morning Jan 5, we were away at 8:05 and heading for Great Sale Cay. [I could never figure out if they spelled it wrong, or someone bought it at a great sale.]  After an hour of no to very light wind, and motoring at 4 knots, we decided to try the spinnaker that I mended at Jack's this summer.  It works great. We are now travelling at 5.5-6 knots in no-light wind [with the motor] but it's faster than no wind and no motor. It looks like crap, and it's too small for our boat but it works! So making a bigger one is on my work list for next summer!

We hope to be at Crab Cay or Foxtown tonight but it depends how the winds hold after our next tack. BY Friday afternoon we should be checked in at Green Turtle Cay and have our phone and internet back. Fingers crossed! If you are reading this Friday, we achieved our goal. LOL

January 1-2

January 1 2017

Another number to remember!

We made it down from Peck Lake to Lake Worth in about 6 hours. That's 20 miles. It was not too bad as far as times and bridges go. There are 6 or 7 bridges that have to open for anyone over 30 feet high, which includes all sailboats and mega yachts. It made quite a difference to lift the dinghy onto the back deck in terms of speed and making the times bridges.

There were only dolphins at the top end. They are smart enough not to run the gauntlet between Jupiter Inlet and West Palm. I think most of the stupid rich people on the East Coast live in this 20 mile stretch.

We got here around 3 pm and decided to just sit at anchor. C-Soul and Saltwater Taffy caught up to us at the last bridge. They probably left at noon; we left at 8 am. Sigh...

Rick drove most of the way down. I was doing little sewing jobs...kept me from flipping off the boaters that tried to swamp us.

There are quite a few boats in here that I recognize from last year, many in the same spots.

So today,  January 2, not being a holiday, we are going to go shore for a walk if we can get the dinghy down in this howling gale; check the weather to see where our window went, and find the next one.

So for details of yesterday, here is my rant. Feel free to skip it but I needed to get it out:               

Etiquette on the ICW           There is none!

For the past two days we have been running down river from Fort Pierce to Lake Worth and have encountered some of the worst boaters ever. They range from million dollar yachts to small fishing skiffs.

Power boaters never look back to see what their wake has done to smaller boats, sail boats, paddle boards, and canoes or kayaks...or they wave smugly and keep on going.

Is there a code in the manual for a power boat that says: "Remember! You are king of the waterways! What's behind, beside and in front of you is not important!"

Travelling up and down the ICW, I have seen pontoon boats swamped; paddlers knocked off their boards, kayaks overturned and the boats that caused the accidents are not even aware of what they've done. I'm sure when they hear about the accidents they are horrified, not realizing their own actions could be the cause... or simply don't care.

Sitting waiting for bridges, the power boats take great delight in slaloming through the sail boats at top speed, watching us pitch rail to rail.

NO WAKE Zones mean nothing to them. I have lost more things off my shelves because of power boat wakes that in ocean crossings...and yes, those of us who cruise do have more than beer coolers on our boats!

At the anchorage spots, especially Peck Lake, the boats go flying by. Do they not think that perhaps these boats at anchor might be cooking dinner? Using sharp knives? I guess the operative work is think!

I saw a boat full of young women, and the female driver was sucking on a wine bottle!!!  The only reason she wasn't speeding: there were too many boats at that spot.

Another boat was running at high speed down the river pulling two little kids on a tube, and the driver was also the spotter --Dad was the only person in the boat!

After observing all this, what is the point of a Manatee Zone? If they don't care enough about each other, they sure don't care enough to worry about destroying the wildlife habitat in the channel.

This kind of irresponsible driving is not tolerated on the highways. Why is it tolerated on the waterway? Or is it sanctioned road rage? Does horsepower mean exemption from the rules?

The ICW is not a "private driveway" for power boaters. All boaters are entitled to use it, even lowly kayaks and canoes.

We may not all drive Lincolns, Cadillacs or Humvees but on the road, all vehicles are equal. Of course, the only people who will actually read this are already responsible boaters. If only there was a way to inform the general boating public.

C-Soul...sleeping in ..because they are faster than us!!

Beautiful boat...considerate driver

OMG - who cuts that lawn???

Happy New Year's Eve

We had a great night with C-Soul. Tried drinking really OLD champagne that I had been saving since 2000[Carolyn]...not a good idea!! Then we tried a bottle from 2004 [Sue]...still not good so we drank some wine, laughed a lot, forgot to eat the cake Gail made, [I think Mark ate it for breakfast today] made up new rules to Cribbage and were in bed by 9:30. Some kind souls on shore lit off some beautiful fireworks, then we fell asleep.

Hope everyone had a great night and you are all home safe and sound, warm and not too hung over!!