November 29, 2011-Spanish Cay, Bahamas

We weren't planning on leaving Little Grand Cay until tomorrow, but while we were eating breakfast the wind shifted to the West. We decided we couldn't let those winds go to waste so we hauled anchor and made our way. We figured we would be on the edge of the front the whole day, which meant that we could have been caught in the rain for the better part of the day, but we didn't get one drop. There were a few dark clouds off in the distance ahead of us, but we were fortunate that they were moving faster than us.
As for the trip, it couldn't have been better. We sailed all day with 10-15 knot trailing winds and following seas, no loud generator motor running, no diesel use, and we even made a tankful of water. We ate really well today too, we had lobster salad for lunch, and I made a lobster and corn chowder for dinner. Mom....I think the chowder would have been up to your standards!
To make things even better, we saw a sea turtle, and Chris caught a fish while trolling. It appeared to be a cero mackerel (by comparing pictures in our fish book), it was a pretty good size too, but we decided to let it go. The next fish that lands on our hook most likely won't have the same fate.
We made it to Spanish Cay by 4:30, not bad for sailing in 10 knot winds. We averaged over 5 knots and traveled over 40 miles. This Cay happens to be a privately owned island and you can not go to shore unless you are staying at the marina or resort. We will be heading over to Green Turtle Cay tomorrow where we are welcome ashore.

November 28, 2011

Amazing what a new day will bring! We went to shore today and got to walk around a bit, which was refreshing to see happy faces. We stopped by the small grocery store. When I say small I mean that they only had one freezer the same size that one American household would have in their basement, and a standing shelf that you would find in a 7-11 with one side partially stocked with dried goods. They had a small fridge with grapes and a few sodas...that's it! We decided to wait until the afternoon, when everyone had received their goods from the supply ship that had come in the middle of the night. We actually got to watch the supply ship (who had run aground when he came in last night) unload and leave this morning.
We walked the whole island, the roads were all cement and big enough for one golf cart to drive on. All the golf carts and the one truck that we saw were loaded down with goods from the supply ship. We decided to head back to the boat for lunch, after which Dahlia napped and Deason and Chris went off to snorkel. They came back with what we had hoped would have been part of our dinner. We had read in our cook book that to get conch out from their shell easily that you boil them for 5 mins and they will come out with a fork. Well, Joy of Cooking failed us! That sucker would not come out of the shell.
We decided to go to shore and have dinner there, which was the original plan anyway, but a conch appetizer would have been nice. When we got to shore we did our grocery shopping, and they had a few more items than this morning, but not much, mostly bags of chips. We bought two whole chickens, grapes, and a few dried goods. We didn't need much else. I also found a local guy named Danny who sold us 10 lobster tails for $10, and he agreed to give me conch opening and cleaning lessons tomorrow when we get some more conch! I was psyched for both.
Dinner was excellent, and amusing. We were apparently too early and they had to unlock the door for us. When I asked what they had on the menu the woman said "I don't know, I will have to check and see what she has". She came back and said "chicken, conch, fish, and lobster", I actually felt rude asking what those dishes might come with, so I didn't bother asking. Deason had the lobster, Chris had the fish, and I had the conch. Dahlia shared with all of us, and it was excellent...including the sides. I now have my Bahamas ideal restored, and we are all going to bed with a happy heart and full bellies.

November 27, 2011-Little Grand Cay-Bahamas

We had a slightly better day today. Winds were still ENE 15-25knots, but with our heading we were able to motor sail at a respectable 5+ knots. We even got over 6 knots a few times. We decided to head for Little Grand Cay where the anchorage would provide pretty good all around protection. The forecast for tonight and tomorrow is for E-SE 15-20 knot winds, and in this little place we are well tucked in. Our trip took less than 5 hours, and the conditions were similar to yesterday, but mentally I felt a little better knowing that we were actually moving.
We didn't go to shore today, but plan on staying through tomorrow so we can check things out. There is a little village here on the island, and amazingly we have Internet on the boat through the small marina that is here.

November 26, 2011-Mangrove Cay, Bahamas

The kids made a towel fort under the cockpit table to hide from the sea spray!
Amazing how unassuming a turquoise sea can look!
Mangrove Cay about a mile out.


Today was one of those "remind me why we are doing this" kind of days. We decided to leave the dock, for a couple of reasons. The first, because it is expensive to stay at the dock and spending $70/night isn't exactly in our budget. Secondly, we really want to be able to be at anchor, and swim/snorkel and kayak off of the boat. Finally, because of both of these reasons we were getting restless. For the past few days the winds have been out of the N-NE 15-25knots, and today it was suppose to be ENE-E 15-20knots. Everyday we inspected from the shore the surf conditions and each day we said to ourselves that it didn't appear to be that bad out there. With all of these factors we decided that we would shove off today.
We got off of the dock and left the inlet without a hitch, and we entered Goodwill Channel and headed into the wind and outgoing tide. The channel is a narrow 2 mile stretch between shoals. Supposedly, it use to have channel markers, but that was before the hurricane took them away. We left at high tide, just to be on the safe side, because we also heard that the shoals had shifted as well since the hurricane. It turned out to be the easiest part of our trip in hind sight. The rest of the trip we were heading into a 18-25 knot wind, and outgoing tide. We were essentially going backwards. At max speed we hit 4 knots a few times, but we were averaging in the low to mid 3 knot range. We were hobby horsing over the waves and taking a fair amount over the bows. We frequently got spray from these waves that came all the way back into the cockpit. Our planned "easy" 40 mile trip to Great Sale Cay, turned into an agonizingly long 20 mile trip to Mangrove Cay. We tried to sail off a little bit, but it didn't really help all that much. Our boat doesn't sail into the wind very well, and we would have had to sail off considerably, and to tack back and forth to get to Mangrove Cay would have been just as long of a day as it was. We never should have used the beach surf as an assessment tool, of course the waves weren't big from the shore, because the water depth is less than 5 ft for at least a mile off shore. In the channel to Mangrove Cay the waves could build a little more because of the deeper water.
Mangrove Cay is basically just that, a small island of mangrove that provided enough protection from the wind for the night. And I got what I asked for, we were at anchor, Chris went swimming off of the boat, he and Deason went kayaking, and after I vented my childish frustrations to Chris I felt better. I have high expectations of the Bahamas, we have been dreaming of coming here since we bought and moved aboard the boat, and I wanted ideal. Ideal being...calm seas, light breeze, easy sailing, and bright sunshine. The bottom line is that there are going to be great days, or a variation of that, and there are going to be bad days. Hopefully, we will use our brains to prevent as many bad days. I do realize that in the grand scheme of things, it could be much worse.

November 25, 2011

We are still at the marina, but we are going to try to leave tomorrow. It might be bumpy, but we are ready to move. Even though the marina is nice, it was not our Bahamas plan.
Closer to our Bahamas plan, we had a coconut feast today. Deason and two kids (the family happens to be from Mass, and keep their boat in Hyannis....small world) from a boat nearby gathered quite a few coconuts. We extracted the milk by using a screw driver and hammer, and then whacked at the thing with the hammer until we could peel it and get at the nut for the meat. It is much harder than it looks, but well worth it. Especially, because we know from watching "Castaway" that we can survive on coconuts, and fish if we can catch some. Hopefully, it won't come to that, but if Tom Hanks could do it so could we!
After dinner, we bought some fresh baked bread from a local woman who had come around with a cart. I won't mention how much I paid for the bread, but it was still warm and smelled so good that I probably would have paid more than I did.

November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving! We decided to stay at the marina for a few days. We woke up at 5am and the NW wind we had hoped for had already gone past and the winds were N-NE. If we had gone, it would have been rough out of the inlet, and we would have had a 20+ knot head wind for our 40 mile trip to Great Sale Cay. Rather than fight for it we gave in and stayed. Unfortunately, there are no good anchorages that can protect us from these North winds, so we are sort of forced to stay here, not that I am complaining. This front seems to be moving quickly, and it looks like we will have good winds by at least Sunday.
The good part about us staying, is I got to cook the Thanksgiving meal I had hoped to. If we had gone, I probably wouldn't have managed it. I am still getting sea sick, unless I spend all of my time outside while traveling. It would have been impossible for me to cook while we were underway! Its amazing the havoc a fetus can wreak on a grown person.
As for the rest of the day, we swam in the pool, walked on the beach, and caught up on some sleep. I love the turkey coma! And Uncle Bobby....you were right! As much as we miss all of our friends and family, Thanksgiving does taste the same......if not better in paradise!

November 23, 2011- West End, Bahamas

We made it! It was actually uneventful....in a good way! We hauled anchor at 3am, and had to go through one opening bridge in Ft. Lauderdale before heading out of Port Everglades Inlet. The wind was still out of the SE 12-18knots, and the first few hours of our trip we got bounced around a little, but nothing like last week. It really wasn't bad at all. The moon rise was at about 4:15 am and then dawn came shortly there after. It was a beautiful sunrise.
We were able to motor sail with the SE winds helping us along and we averaged over 6.5 knots. At about midday we lost our wind, and had to drop all the sails, but it was absolutely beautiful out. I can't even describe the color of the water, it was over 1500 ft deep, but you could still tell that the water was crystal clear even with it being such a dark blue.
Deason, Chris and I all made messages in a bottle that we tossed into the Gulf Stream. Hopefully, someone finds them, and not someone who might want to charge us for littering. Other than that, the crossing was pleasant. Although, we didn't catch any fish while trolling a line the whole way across, nor did we see any dolphins, whales or sharks. I was a little disappointed at the lack of marine life that I had expected to see. We pulled into West End by 3:30pm, and decided that we would stay at the marina. It made it easier to check in and we got to go for a swim in the pool. Win...Win! Chris got to go for a swim in the harbor too, after he dropped the diesel fill cap into the water.
We will be up and out early, we are hoping to make Great Sale Cay. A new front is suppose to move through this evening bringing more North winds, which could make tomorrows trip a little nasty. Here is to hoping that front stalls over Florida!