Monday 14 – Friday 18 December, Berry Islands to Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas.

Early Monday morning we headed south towards Nassau. This 35 mile passage involves crossing the Tongue of the Ocean, a piece of water that has to be given some respect in bad weather. We had an uneventful crossing with only one squall up to 25 kts.

We arrived in Nassau around the 15:00 mark after having received permission to enter the harbor from Nassau Harbor Control. We decided to check into a Marina as we had some stuff to take care of shore side and since the holding is reported to be quite average at the anchorage in the harbor.

We are still sailing with buddy boat Dream Seeker and Kevin and Karen are seasoned cruisers with wonderful pearls of wisdom.

We stocked up on the essential items that we were missing such as "looksee" bucket, gaff, more fishing lures, kaliks, rum and fresh veggies, diving gloves, spare bulbs……………

Nassau is a scruffy town but has some neat little bars and pockets of refuge for the weary sailor. Our marina is right across the road from the best stores in town, really handy location for reprovisioning.

Before we head on Monday for the Exuma’s we plan to visit the Aquarium at Paradise Island and Fort Fincastle

Squall while crossing the Tongue of the Ocean...



Entering Nassau Harbour, once granted permission from Harbour Control........



Lunch at Daddy Bowes, Potters Cay - Nassau harbour



Downtown Nassau and Christmas lights.............

Tuesday 8– Sunday 13 December 2009, Great Harbour Cay to Devil’s – Hoffman Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas.

What a trip over! Leaving Fort Lauderdale Monday December 7th we traveled 23 hrs to arrive at Great Harbour Cay. The Gulf Crossing was a little rolley polley with 5’ swells but it was the hobby horsing at 3am until 7am across the banks that was taking its toll on the crew. With 2 hour shifts Jorgen and I were fairly knackered upon arrival. Once the skipper had been cleared through Customs and Immigration we popped open the Champagne on Querencia and shared a few bottles with our buddies Karen & Kevin, on Dream Seeker. We had lunch at the charming little restaurant at the dock and slept the afternoon away.

We trekked the island the next day looking for the elusive Beach Club Bar, oh boy what a treat we strolled the pristine beach in attempt to burn off some calories then hitched a ride back to the marina via the epicenter of the island.

We left Great Harbor Cay Marina at about 09:00 December 10th and headed out the rather tricky channel heading for Devil’s – Hoffman Cay, about 35 miles away. In order to get there we first had to sail around the north point of Great Harbor Cay and then head SSE towards Devil’s – Hoffman. We had a fantastic sail around the head until we were pinching the wind off our nose. The weather was stunning and we made decent time to our destination

We got in around 15:00 and after advice from Kevin, dropped the hook in a sandy patch (grassy patches offer less good holding) and we were set.

A bunch of local fisherman came around and Kevin bartered a Hogfish and we purchased 7 beautiful lobster tails for $20. Surf and Turf was enjoyed aboard Dream Seeker that night, fantastic tucker!!

Friday was spent fixing a burnt out shore power receptacle and waiting for the cold front to come in. The front came as forecasted and Jorgen spent the night sleeping in the cockpit listening to 25-30 kts of wind howling while our anchor hung tight.

Saturday was still windy so we basically hung around the boat and took it easy and slumbered off the previous sleepless night.

Sunday it was off on Dinghy Operations to hike up to the Blue Hole on Hoffman’s Cay. What a fantastic sight – the bottom is unfathomable and God only knows what critters lurch below the surface. Later we dinghied 3.5 miles down to Flo’s Conch Bar for lunch, easily recognizable from the big “YOU WELCOME” painted on the roof. Greasy Conchs and a bunch of Kalik’s were consumed at Flo’s followed by a dip in the crystal clear waters.

Monster provisioning in Ft. Lauderdale - The boat threw up...



Sunset at Moselle Bank north of Bimini... another 12 hrs to go...



Entering the cut into Great Harbor Cay marina...



Honu arriving at Flo's conch bar - Kaliks and Conch...



View from Flo's...



Sunset at Devil's - Hoffmans Cay...

In the Bahamas!!! - Yeehaaa!!

We got here!

After three hectic days of provisioning and getting the boat ready, we left Ft Lauderdale on Monday morning 09:00 for a 24 hr passage the Bullock's harbor in the Berry Islands.

We got in here at 08:45 Tuesday morning and celebrated with a couple of cold bottles of Moet.

The sky is blue, the water is crystal clear.

Life is good.

Peace, Love and Kaliks / Jorgen & Maria

Saturday 27th November Vero Beach, FL mile 952 (0 miles)

Cleaned boat sponsored by Limex, Clorox, Bounty and some other chemicals that I forgot.

Reprogrammed the Not So Smart Regulator, dumb as rocks.

Picnic on the Beach with Polar bears – the Sunshine State is sunny but we’re freezing.

The wife prepped a lovely picnic full of tremendeous cheeses, prosciutto, roast pork, olives, pears, Potato salad that I snuck in to the shopping cart and a C(h)ardonnay from Oz.

Cruizers pardy on the dock oh boy - jeezus - ready to leave bingo land!!!

Friday 27th November Vero Beach, FL mile 952 (0 miles)

Read books and relaxed.

Came out of turkey coma.

Another fab sunset



Dehydrated and hallucinating

Thursday 26th November Vero Beach, FL mile 952 (0 miles)

Turkey day.

Coma.

Cajun Spiced turkey wings roasted aboard..



Roasted stuffed turkey breast squished into the same oven



Thanksgiving dinner aboard Querencia



Later that night

Wednesday 25th November Vero Beach, FL mile 952 (0 miles)

Reprovisioning day! Yeeeehaaaa! We where in bad need of reprovisioning, running low on all essentials such as wine, beer, water, filet mignon, brie, eggs and bacon , crisps etc etc. Not to mention the Morbier.

Interesting how such a minor chore such as buying groceries can turn into a half days project when cruising on a sailboat…

The procedure is as follows:

1. Hop into to dinghy loaded up with cooler bags and credit cards, (they take up a lot of space).
2. Dinghy ashore to dinghy dock - must stand up to keep arse dry!
3. Catch public transport (Yikes – Haven’t caught a bus in 20 years…),( two things you never run after a bus and a man FYI)
4. Fill up two shopping carts to the brim- that was easy we were hungry………
5. Have grocery store call Taxi Van for transport back to Dinghy dock. – missus we have two carts, filled to the brim, by the way, don’t send Micky with the Lada.
6. Load dinghy to the brim and try to make space to fit wife
7. Dinghy back to mother ship and unload.
8. Make the stuff fit in the fridge.

You get the idea – four hours later one is definitely ready for an adult beverage.

Sardine Bay - we are all packed in 3 to a mooring ball - here's Bog Q on rhs of ball in foreground



Sunset Vero Beach



mooring Ball 6 shared with Cookie Monster and Whispering Sea

Tuesday 24th November Vero Beach, FL mile 952 (55 miles)

The Chart plotter decides to crap put every now and then, usually at the most inopportune times, and close to tricky bends. It seems that it is loosing power or maybe the elves have joined the union. Probably a bad connection but I have not yet been able to find the problem, possibly nasty gremlins. Thankfully we have plenty of handheld back up units and navigation is pretty straight forward on this stretch anyway thanks to the helpful hobbits.

Coast guard announces that waterspout has formed 5 miles off shore - batten down the hatches this could get snotty........ luckily Big Q outran it!!

Arrived in Vero Beach around 14:00 and hooked a mooring ball. The interesting thing with Vero Beach is that it is so popular with cruisers, especially around Thanksgiving, that several boats raft up to one mooring ball. We never experienced anything like it. It's gotta be the free bus rides (more about this later) that attracts the bingo crownd. Oh well, it should be interesting to raft up to some absolute strangers for a couple of days. We could always scare them off.

Pavarotti at max volume tends to confuse some people... Whatever - rest in Peace Luciano...

Sunrise at Cocoa............



Ooh the sky shouldn't look like this at lunchtime...



That's one weird looking formation.........



entering Vero Beach - mad clouds and beautiful homes.........

Monday 23rd November Cocoa Beach, FL mile 897 (52 miles)

Got up early to refill our propane gas bottle (that is the ting that keeps the stove and oven going and us fed - importante!!!). Bicycled up to the town and had the tank refilled. Now this sounds simple, but really it takes skill and determination to complete a task as this – Jorgen skillfully wiggled his bicycle thru horrendous traffic situations while balancing gas bottle between his teeth (and it was raining). Meanwhile Maria had to just make it through traffic on a flat banger with no brakes – padded pants where definitely required on this heap. The best one was, while trying cross a major intersection on the marina archived cycles, Stephen Roche passed us by on his shiny Peugeot and tight pants, almost fell off his bike laughing at the two of us, I was too focused on stayin’ alive, to give a shite!

Left New Smyrna around 10:00 and planned to head down to Titusville. Once in Titusville we decided that we did not like the look of the place and pushed on towards Cocoa Beach. Cocoa had a great anchorage, plenty of space, good holding and protected from wind and wakes, but no bicycles we had enough for one day thanks.

Chocolate Smoothies were enjoyed after dinner!

Skinny Canal and bridge on request........



If you look real hard NASA launch pad off to the East of our port

Sunday 22nd November New Smyrna Beach, FL mile 845 (0 miles)

Day of laundry and recovery from party. Walked to main street of the small town of Smyrna Beach, Nothing much there really. Had lunch at Jason’s which was shocking, don’t order anything with cow involved, yuck, no really yuck.

Happening place- killer traffic.........

Friday 21st November New Smyrna Beach, FL mile 845 (67 miles)

Left St Augustine early to catch the first bridge opening at 07:00.

It was great to haul the chunk of massive hunk metal, the anchor, and clean her off with a functioning wash down system (replaced the pump in St Augustine…). Now, when the dang system is finally working, the anchor and chain is cleaner than a baby’s bottom. I wouldn’t go eating me dinner offa it though!

We prepared ourselves for a long day on the water, thankfully the weather was beautiful and we were escorted by Dolphins during long stretches of the day. They like moldy bread, by the way, but don’t tell PITA( people into tasty animals) – don’t forget the Old Bay.

We pulled into a small marina in New Smyrna Beach. The marina was quite cute and very inexpensive ($1.25 / foot). There we met up with Zuri for some wine and edible surf and turf – the rest is history (Go Ian Smith!)

Sunrise St Augustine.............. yehaa lets head South!!



Proud Mary - Somewhere in Florida ICW



Look a bridge , thats different............

Friday November 20th, St. Augustine Fl. (0 miles) Mile 778

Woke up to a great sunny morning and after several pints of coffee, catching up on blogging, we headed into St. Augustine for some lunch and a good ould walk about. Harry's served up us some great tucker in N'Orleans style. The clientele consisted of a mix bag of well dressed hounds as well as human folk. We strolled down the boardwalk in an attempt to burn off a fraction of the caloric intake at lunch. Taking a brief tour of the Castillo de San Marcos we were entertained by the cannon fire which periodically happens throughout the day. Thankfully no ammunition is used as Querencia is anchored slap bang in the line of fire. We worked our way through the town across to Flagler College, once a hotel in its previous life. Great town worth the 2 day stop, even though the anchorage is dodgy.

Lunch at Harry's



Stylish K-9 clientele stroll into Harry's .........



Castillo de San Marco



Flagler College.............



Shady student enters college



Kings Street, the main drag.....

Thursday 19th November St. Augustine, FL mile 778 (13 miles)

Arrived in St Augustine to a crowded anchorage, a short 13 mile run from Pine Island. After several attempts we decided to head across the river and anchor on the other side instead. Probably a wise choice since several boats dragged in the more popular anchorage on the west side. We took a short trip into the town and did a quick recon and decided that we would stay another day to really check out this quaint historical town.

Querencia safely anchored as we head into town via dinghy



View of city of Staugustine from our anchorage accross the river.....



Walkabout - deck the halls ...........



Back street kids......

Wednesday 18th November Pine Island, FL mile 765 (48 miles)

Off we went down the ICW and decided to anchor about 13 miles before St Augustine as we wanted some nature. Watch the pelicans dive bomb for fish and a dolphin mother and baby fished around the peaceful anchorage at sunset. Plenty of mozzies here drove Maria mad and ate her during the night.

Shrimp boat early in the morning mist... I think I see Leut. Dan



Dinner ain't looking too good - honey crack open the tin of chicken...



Sunset Pine Island..........then the mozzies came

Tuesday 17th November Fernandina Beach, FL mile 717 (0 miles)

Headed into town for breakfast and then onto the US Customs and Border patrol to obtain our local boaters cards that will allow us to re-enter the country from the Bahamas by just making a simple phone call. The Federal Agent was super friendly and sorted us out on the spot. The sparks completed the repairs and did a great job, thanks Robert. We chilled out on Q and planned on an early start for the next days travels. Great fish shop at the marina – sweet juicy fresh shrimp and a fab halibut filet was purchased to cook aboard.

Paper mill by the docks contrast the quaint town



Historic House and Orange tree ....



More of the Willage..........

Monday 16th November Fernandina Beach, FL mile 717 (32 miles)

We booked into Fernandina Marina and pulled up to the fuel dock in order to fuel up and pump before we took our slip. Once fuel was on board and holding tanks emptied, we attempted to start the engine – Nothing! The starting battery was banjaxed. The local marine sparks was engaged to install a combiner switch so that we can start of the house batteries. Ordered a new Duo charger, whatever that does!

Met Stephen and Estelle from Zuri and had boat drinks on Querencia before heading out to dinner and drinks in the town. Estelle and Maria invented a new form of Kung Fu Billiards, Maria won.

Fernandina Beach is a great little town, very quaint and worth the stop.

Good Looking Post Office......



Sunset Fernandina Beach



Why did the skipper cross the road?

Sunday 15th November Jekyll Island, GA mile 685 (34 miles)

Got up early again in order to make it through both Little Mud River and Jekyll Creek at relatively high tides. After crossing St Simon’s Sound in ideal conditions we gingerly traveled up Jekyll Creek and anchored south of the marina, on the edge of the channel, off Jekyll Island.

We dinghied ashore and rented bicycles to ride around (Sally) the Jekyll Island. It was a great mode of transportation as we rode up to Jekyll Island Club House. There we discovered the millionaires “cottages” built for many famous wealthy families such as the Vanderbilt’s, Cranes. The setting is gorgeous with beautiful old trees mixed in with tropical plants and palms. Lunch was had at Oyster bar, yummy fresh shellfish.


We toddled on back to Q and sometime that afternoon we got pulled up by “Law Enforcement” had to re-anchor the boat out of the channel. The Island was definitely worth the stop. Thanks Tim for the recommendation!

Crossing St Simon's Sound, Atlantic Ocean in the distance.......



Welcoming Committee Jekyll Island



Skipper working out at Jekyll Island Club House



Cherokee Cottage 1904, built by Dr. Shrady ( President Grant's doctor)



Crane Cottage......



Another "cottage"........



Valet Parking at the Club House