Saturday, April 3: We ran out of propane while I was cooking breakfast. On these small islands, you leave your tank and the boat takes it to get filled on Thursdays. That won’t work, because we’re leaving tomorrow.
Chuck dumped the water jugs into the tank and took the jugs to shore with the dinghy and got 22 gallons of water.
Our first stop was for ice cream. The roadways are actually double-wide sidewalks for golf carts. Pretty cool. We rode all around on the bumpy, limestone roads. There are ruts everywhere.
We stopped at Jolly Roger Marina in White Sound and Patti and I had a mango daiquiri on their dock. Yum.
We stopped at a grocery store and I bought a few things.
After five hours of exploring, Chuck's back had enough of riding in the back of a golf cart, so we headed back to the boat.
Patti made hot dogs, beans, sauerkraut and chips for dinner. We borrowed a few small propane canisters from them and we’ll use the adapter to fit on the hose for the stove.
That evening, Chuck and I spent a few hours looking at the charts and marking our planned route to West End, where we’ll cross back to the States. It’s about four days away.
A few more photos from Green Turtle:
It was the day before Easter, but their Christmas sign was still up in Green Turtle.
Sunday: April 4: Happy Easter to all! This is the first time I can remember in my life that I’m not attending church on Easter Sunday. We’re on the move and we’ll land on a remote island with no settlement. It feels strange not going to church on Easter.
Chuck hooked up the portable propane tank and I cooked breakfast. When I was done, he checked it and gas was leaking everywhere! He unhooked the tank and saw there was a leak at the crimp. Scary.
Before getting underway, Chuck saw a dolphin in the harbor swimming around our boat.
We’re sailing the Sea of Abaco to Allans-Pensacola Cay today. We unhooked the mooring at 8:45 a.m. The water was really shallow leaving the harbor. We were only seeing 3.4 ft. in some places!
We motor sailed at 1500 rpms to charge the batteries. SOG was 4.8 knots with 8 knots of wind. The temperature is in the mid to low 70s all week in Abaco. Beautiful!
The day started out as overcast, but the sun was out by 10 a.m. We were heading NW and our waypoints were Green Turtle Cay to Powell Cay to Angelfish Point to Crab Cay to Allans-Pensacola, where we’re anchoring for the night. The water was 14 ft. deep and crystal clear.
At 11 a.m. we saw a school of dolphins. Around noon or so, Chuck turned the motor off to sail for a while. We arrived at the anchorage at 1:30 p.m.
I did some cleaning and Chuck rowed the dinghy all around and over to the beach.
I made tacos for dinner with baked apples, raisins and walnuts for dessert.
Monday, April 5: I went to bed at 8 p.m. last night, so I was up at 6:15 a.m. We pulled anchor around 8 a.m. heading for Great Sale, Abaco. We were motor sailing at 1900 rpms. The wind was 6 knots and SOG was 4.5. Our waypoints were Foxtown, Carter’s Bank, Sale Cay Rocks, Little Sale Cay and Great Sale Cay.
I read a novel all day and it was so good, I couldn’t put it down until I finished. “We’ll Meet Again,” by Mary Higgins Clark, was a murder mystery. I've read so many books on this trip. How great to be able to read again. I just didn't seem to have time to read when I was working.
We motor sailed most of the day, but the motor was on idle. Chuck experimented with the sails, trying to pick up speed. He finally turned the motor off at 2:45 p.m. We arrived at the Great Sale Cay anchorage at 4 p.m. We can’t wait to get the new head sail we ordered. It’s at Alan and Patti’s house in Stuart, FL, and we’ll be there in a few days!
Chuck put on his wet suit, dug out the Hookamax and jumped into the water to the check the zinc. It was gone. So he put a new one on. While he was in the water, he scrubbed the wheel of the depth finder and scraped a few barnacles off the bottom, but he only saw a few. No growth. It pays to buy good bottom paint!
Tomorrow is an early day…we’re going more than 50 miles. We’re heading for West End and skipping our planned stopover at Mangrove Cay because Wednesday looks like a good day to cross back to the States. We’re crossing to Lake Worth, West Palm Beach. Then we’ll have cell phones and Internet again!
Tuesday, April 6: The alarms went off at 5:15 a.m. We pulled the anchor at 6:15 a.m. and headed for West End. The sun wasn’t up, but it wasn’t too long before it was. I took a much-needed shower and washed my hair. Boy, that felt great! Our waypoints today were Mangrove Cay, Barracuda Shoal, Church Bank, Goodwill, Indian Rock and West End. I read Nora Roberts, “Night Shadow.” I fried a chicken breast and made myself a salad with sliced chicken and made Chuck a ham and tomato sandwich.
We docked at Old Bahama Bay Marina. Dockage was $122 for the night with no electric, plus a mandatory $15 water fee.
The boat was in desperate need of a good bath, since we have been paying for water for eight weeks and didn't "waste" it to clean the boat. Chuck took advantage of the water fee and washed Sheet Music.
I caught a few rays while we were underway on the bow.
We topped off the fuel tank and the jerry jugs. This is a beautiful place, with a beach with lots of welcoming lounge chairs, a beach bar, a pool and more. I took Jazzy for a nice walk, then donned my bathing suit and headed to the pool for a swim. It has a waterfall with two levels and is so pretty.
It’s my turn to cook tonight: Stuffed pork chops with peaches, peas and applesauce.
Tomorrow we cross to the good ol’ U.S. of A. I have mixed emotions. I loved touring the Bahamas, but it will be good to start heading home to our family and friends.
A few more photos from West End:
Here's the pool I swam in at Old Bahama Bay Marina. The round pool is a waterfall into the pool below.
Wednesday, April 7: The alarms went off a few minutes after 4 a.m. and we left the dock at 4:45 in the dark. We saw the red and green marking the mouth of the harbor, but a rock jetty curved into the harbor so we had to watch out for the rocks and snake around to exit. It was a little tense to say the least.
With light beam in hand, I sat on the bow and scanned back and forth looking for the jetty and the opening. The skipper kept his GPS tracks from coming in, so we used that as our guide. The seas were 4-6 ft. and choppy getting out. After about 10 minutes, I scooted my way to the cockpit. It was took rolly for me to stay up there. I don't understand how some cruisers like to travel at night. We hate it!
We heard announcements that the U.S. Coast Guard was performing live fire training missions at 24 46.35, 079 46.77. That was five miles from where we were going to be and they required a three mile clearance area. Chuck plugged it into the GPS to make sure we stayed clear.
At 11:30 a.m., we were in the Gulf Stream, which really slowed us down. SOW was 7.3 knots, but SOG dropped to 4.7, with 15 knots of wind and the motor running at 3200 rpms. Our jib was full and our main was reefed. The seas were calmer, 2-3 ft. Our arrival time was estimated at 2:30 p.m., but changed when we hit the Gulf Stream. It really slowed us down. We changed our heading to compensate for the current and brought the keel mostly up, which changed our arrival time at Lake Worth Inlet back to 2:33 p.m.
A few miles from the inlet, we took down the Bahamas flag and put up the quarantine flag. Here's the captain holding the tattered and torn Bahamas flag. Notice the tan lines on his legs!
The inlet was a bit rough, but the current pushed us along. We took a mooring ball for the night in West Palm Beach and called U.S. Customs to report our arrival. We relayed our information and received our arrival number and were told to report to Customs within 24 hours with our passports and arrival number.
I sent a text to our kids, my mom and my sister to let them know we arrived safely. Tomorrow we'll move over to Riviera Beach Yacht Center, a stone's throw from here. We'll get a taxi from there to Customs.
Welcome back. We were just thinking of Sheet Music as we pulled into Melbourne Harbor Marina--where we met Chuck so many months ago.
ReplyDeleteMicMac's on her way back to Virginia, although we're enjoying this fantastic weather (finally) and taking our time. Perhaps you'll catch up with us.
Mary Ann & Pete