We had planned to leave Great Sale Cay about 22:00 in order to sail the Bahama Banks during the night and arrive at the Gulf Stream at first light at 06:00 Saturday morning.
Both Jorgen and Jim on Innisfree got bored and antsy so after a quick VHF conference we upped anchor at 20:00 and fecked off outta Great Sale.
We had an uneventful motorsail across the banks and hit the stream at about 04:00. Innisfree’s chart plotter wouldn’t fire up so we were their eyes for the big stuff like AIS and radar, navigation etc. Luckily Gwenn had her trusty handheld Garmin GPS
I checked the weather again and now it called for ESE winds at 10 kts – not enough wind to sail at reasonable speed on a run to a broad reach – crickey it was going to be a motor sail again!
At sunrise we met Boomerang who had left Double Breasted Cay the day before and sailed under spinnaker all night doing speeds between 4-8 knots, that’s what a performance Catamaran with lots of carbon fiber thingos can do – it lets you sail!
Anyway, just when Jorgen had stopped biotchin about no wind – it piped up – go figure.
Wind increased from ESE at 10 and clocked to SE at 15 kts. Once we hit the stream we were screaming along under full sails at 9+ knots. Sail of the Century # 2 or so we thought.
A couple of hours later while Jorgen was napping in the cockpit, our Autopilot decides that it is time for a Crazy Ivan Maneuver and does a 360 degree turn with a wild jibe thrown in (thank Buddha we had set a preventer while on a broad reach). Maria let out a scream and a few expletives, a still half napping skipper got the ship back on course sailing due west at 270 degrees. Only the autopilot showed us sailing a course of 90 degrees – due east. The little bugger must have gotten confused. The resourceful Maria did what one should always do when in doubt – shut the autopilot down and restarted it again. Worked like a charm!
The wind was blowing fine; we were loving it and kept up with Innisfree a 38’ catamaran.
I guess one shouldn’t wish for too much wind, because all of a sudden the winds increased to 20 kts gusting 25 and clocked to SSE – on the beam! Time to reef main and jib and we still did 8+ knots under reefed sails.
Got into Ft Pierce around 13:00 Saturday, the entrance was some tricky driving with 6-7’ waves on the beam an Q rolling gunwale to gunwale and corkscrewing her way into the inlet – vomitus maximus
Decided to head straight up to Vero Beach which is another 15 miles up the ICW. We hooked a mooring ball and had Innisfree over for crossing party with Bubbly wine.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Thursday 22 April, Spanish Cay – Great Sale Cay, Abacos 45 Miles.
Headed down to Great Sale Cay to stage up for our crossing back to the Estados Unidos.
According to the weather reports, the conditions were favorable for crossing the Gulf Stream on Friday and Saturday. Leaving Thursday night and crossing the stream Friday would afford calm conditions but virtually no wind hence we would have to motor all the way to Florida. Not looking forward to that long motor sail and also not wanting to get the ship ready for blue water (hauling dinghy onto foredeck is a major pain in rear side) while nursing overhangs from the Spanish Cay party – we opted to wait until Friday Night before heading off. The forecast for Friday called for more wind with the only negative that it would really pick up on Saturday night. Oh well, we’d be well tucked into to a mooring in Florida by then (famous last words). Most of the boats left Great Sale Cay on Thursday night, Querencia and Innisfree and a few other boats stayed on.
According to the weather reports, the conditions were favorable for crossing the Gulf Stream on Friday and Saturday. Leaving Thursday night and crossing the stream Friday would afford calm conditions but virtually no wind hence we would have to motor all the way to Florida. Not looking forward to that long motor sail and also not wanting to get the ship ready for blue water (hauling dinghy onto foredeck is a major pain in rear side) while nursing overhangs from the Spanish Cay party – we opted to wait until Friday Night before heading off. The forecast for Friday called for more wind with the only negative that it would really pick up on Saturday night. Oh well, we’d be well tucked into to a mooring in Florida by then (famous last words). Most of the boats left Great Sale Cay on Thursday night, Querencia and Innisfree and a few other boats stayed on.
Wednesday 21 April, Manjack Cay – Spanish Cay, Abacos 20 Miles.
Headed into Spanish Cay Marina as we needed to top up our water tank one last time before heading back to the States.
Big party at the marina - The chicks gave Jim and Jorgen a spanking in shuffle board.
We were the only boats there so it was like our own private resort. The owner’s son was managing things while they were trying to find a couple who would manage the island – I think cabin fever was starting to affect the fellow!
Big party at the marina - The chicks gave Jim and Jorgen a spanking in shuffle board.
We were the only boats there so it was like our own private resort. The owner’s son was managing things while they were trying to find a couple who would manage the island – I think cabin fever was starting to affect the fellow!
Tuesday 20 April, Green Turtle Cay – Manjack Cay, Abacos 4 Miles.
Upped the anchor and headed up to Manjack Cay. Cool dinghy ops through the mangroves at high tide. Zillions of turtles and starfish and a baby shark to boot.
(Well, the shark might have been a baby but it managed to startle Miss Maria who fell backwards into the dinghy...)
Jim dove in and picked up a bright yellow starfish – very cool critters. We beachcombed on the little beaches western side of the island. Gwenn and Maria hiked the trails in the morning to the eastern beaches
(Well, the shark might have been a baby but it managed to startle Miss Maria who fell backwards into the dinghy...)
Jim dove in and picked up a bright yellow starfish – very cool critters. We beachcombed on the little beaches western side of the island. Gwenn and Maria hiked the trails in the morning to the eastern beaches
Sunday 18 April, Marsh Harbor – Green Turtle Cay, Abacos 20 Miles.
Conditions were favorable for crossing the infamous whale passage which is notorious for its “rage” – there can be 10 foot standing waves in the cut if conditions are bad.
Today it was, to quote Don from s/v Boomerang, like “piss on a plate”.
We planned to head into White Sound at Green Turtle Cay as our 5’9” draft would never let us into to the more southern hip and happening Black Sound.
Unfortunately we had to leave Marsh Harbor at high tide to get out of our slip. That meant that we arrive at the entrance to White sound about 1.5 hours before low tide. Not ideal but the charts showed 5’6” so we figured we’d give it a go…
Promptly ran aground at the entrance of the channel. There was no way we could back ourselves off.
The local ferry with dual big diesels engines tried to tow us of – negatory. Big old Q wouldn’t budge. All we could do was to call a ‘securitee’ on the radio, warning other boaters that we were blocking the channel, open a beer and wait for the tide to come in.
Three hours later, about 7 pm we started to float off and put the engine in reverse. Headed straight for an anchorage about a mile away, dropped the hook and relaxed.
Went into historical New Plymouth, nice town, less frilly than Hopetown but very authentic stuff.
Today it was, to quote Don from s/v Boomerang, like “piss on a plate”.
We planned to head into White Sound at Green Turtle Cay as our 5’9” draft would never let us into to the more southern hip and happening Black Sound.
Unfortunately we had to leave Marsh Harbor at high tide to get out of our slip. That meant that we arrive at the entrance to White sound about 1.5 hours before low tide. Not ideal but the charts showed 5’6” so we figured we’d give it a go…
Promptly ran aground at the entrance of the channel. There was no way we could back ourselves off.
The local ferry with dual big diesels engines tried to tow us of – negatory. Big old Q wouldn’t budge. All we could do was to call a ‘securitee’ on the radio, warning other boaters that we were blocking the channel, open a beer and wait for the tide to come in.
Three hours later, about 7 pm we started to float off and put the engine in reverse. Headed straight for an anchorage about a mile away, dropped the hook and relaxed.
Went into historical New Plymouth, nice town, less frilly than Hopetown but very authentic stuff.
Saturday 17 April Hopetown – Marsh Harbor, Abacos 10 Miles.
Headed back to Marsh Harbor to refuel, re-water and re-provision before our crossing back to the States.
We hooked up with Innisfree, Jim returned from a quick visit to Canada so we all went to Wally’s restaurant to celebrate reunion. The food at Wally’s is the best in Marsh harbor. Our plan was to leave the next day for Green Turtle Cay but we had to wait for high tide as Q sat aground in the slip at low tide.
We hooked up with Innisfree, Jim returned from a quick visit to Canada so we all went to Wally’s restaurant to celebrate reunion. The food at Wally’s is the best in Marsh harbor. Our plan was to leave the next day for Green Turtle Cay but we had to wait for high tide as Q sat aground in the slip at low tide.
Tuesday 06 April - Saturday 17 April Hopetown, Abacos 0 Miles.
Hung out in Hopetown to recharge the batteries (ours, not the 4D AGM’s)
Jorgen’s project: Hack sawed the dinghy motor lock of – lesson learned – do not leave your dinghy motor lock on for 4.5 months in the harsh salty marine environment of the Bahamas. No amount of WD40 will undo the damage done. We need to get the lock off so we could put the Beast on the foredeck for our return journey
After 1 hours of hectic sawing in the blazing sun, three (all I had) hack saw blades later the lock came of and the neighboring boat came over in their dinghy and gave me a well deserved cold beer.
Our pals on catamaran Boomerang host a wedding ceremony abroad. The exchange of vows took place underway in the Sea of Abaco and as the bride and groom returned to harbor we all blew our horns, conchs or anything that made significant noise, as the newly weds were paraded around the harbor – congrats guys
We decided to blow out some cobwebs and rented Bicycles for the day. We cycled all the way to Tahiti Beach some many miles away over hilly terrain – now folks these bicycles only have one gear- we were so ready for a beer by the time we reached the southern tip of the island. So we bar hopped our way back and enjoyed Long Island Ice Teas at On Da Beach.
More projects: Changed oil in dinghy motor and Honda generator.
Jorgen’s project: Hack sawed the dinghy motor lock of – lesson learned – do not leave your dinghy motor lock on for 4.5 months in the harsh salty marine environment of the Bahamas. No amount of WD40 will undo the damage done. We need to get the lock off so we could put the Beast on the foredeck for our return journey
After 1 hours of hectic sawing in the blazing sun, three (all I had) hack saw blades later the lock came of and the neighboring boat came over in their dinghy and gave me a well deserved cold beer.
Our pals on catamaran Boomerang host a wedding ceremony abroad. The exchange of vows took place underway in the Sea of Abaco and as the bride and groom returned to harbor we all blew our horns, conchs or anything that made significant noise, as the newly weds were paraded around the harbor – congrats guys
We decided to blow out some cobwebs and rented Bicycles for the day. We cycled all the way to Tahiti Beach some many miles away over hilly terrain – now folks these bicycles only have one gear- we were so ready for a beer by the time we reached the southern tip of the island. So we bar hopped our way back and enjoyed Long Island Ice Teas at On Da Beach.
More projects: Changed oil in dinghy motor and Honda generator.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
