Sea of Abaco

Having entered the sea of Abaco we will spend the next week or so in mostly protected waters. This body of water is protected from the west by Great Abacoe Island and from the ocean to the east bu a string of reefs and beautiful barrier Islands.

Friday March 18 thru thru Monday Mar 21st.-
We setteled in at Donnies dock in Black sound and were pleased to meet up with friends from last year. Had a great time biking about enjoying this quaint community and its wonderful beaches. On Sat eve Chris cooked up our St Pats dinner (overdue) and had Donnie over, we rode to the beach to watch the full moon rise over the ocean at dusk . Sunday Donnie invited a few friends for local caught Tuna dinner at his house which was a great treat.

Tues

Off with the tide to head south. The winds have calmed down allowing us to head out to the ocean thru the Whale Passage. This is the only spot in the Abacos where you have to leave protected waters and this channel is notorious for big seas. Anchored in beautiful Bakers Bay on Great Guana Cay, Walked and swam in the ocean then enjoyed another great sunset from our protected anchorage.

Andros anchored at Archers Cay

Seas crashing on Whale Cay as we exit to the ocean

Wed
Sail to Archers Cay on Great Abaco as wind is predicted to shift overnite. Wandered about the sand flats at an exte low tide. The moon is currently at it's closest to the earth for the year and tides have been extreme the past few days.

Thurs
Sunny with a brisk west wind, sailed about, checking out Treasure Cay anchorage we found it very crowded so sail back south anchoring in the lee of Great Abaco.

Fri thru Sun
Another sunny day but the winds have shifted to the north. Sail back to Treasure Cay as the anchorage has now cleared out somewhat. This resort is located on Chris' favorite beach where we spent the afternoon basking in the clear waters and white sands. For a fee of $10 a day boaters are allowed to anchor in the resorts dredged harbor and use all the facilities including pool, showers and wifi.
On Sat we biked a few miles in the hot sun to a nautical flea market where we found a few items we couldn't live without. Chris spent the afternoon baking up a storm; bread, muffins and best of all a blueberry pie from wild berries we picked and canned this past summer. The boat is loaded down with canned raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and venision that we brought from up north and are real treats in the remote islands. Cocktails aboard Stardust with Harvey and Nancy, friends we met in Lake Worth, capped off another great day in paradise.

Back to the Bahamas 2011

After spending the past 8 months ashore we are finally back on the water. We had a great summer dividing our time between our home in Piercefield, NY and camp on the Racquette. October found us back in our winter home in Jensen Beach, FL where we kept busy with some major renovations.
Having stored our boat in Fl for the summer which made the trip south a bit quicker by car this year. Once again we were able to rent a dock within walking distance of our home and enjoyed being able to bike to the boat daily. Some of the boat projects completed this winter included a larger fuel tank, dingy davits and a better solar charge control.

I won't even admit to how much wine went aboard!

Friday March 11, 2011- Even though sailors consider starting a journey on a Friday to be a bad omen we are off to Lake Worth (Palm Beach) to wait for weather to cross to the Bahamas. A sunny cool morning gave way to a brisk north wind that brought us into the anchorage in North Lake before cocktail hour.

Sat thru Mon- Sunny days and cool nights, Biked about visiting the beaches at McCarthur State Park and doing a few last minute errands. As the weather looked favorable for a Tuesday passage we moved the boat south Monday afternoon to the harbor entrance to be in position for an early morning exit. Two other boats, one our size and the other a 26 footer(yikes) will be making the crossing at the same time.

ACROSS THE GULF STREAM

Tues March 15th

Anchor up at 4:15am under a starry sky with a bright moon. Seas were lumpy and the wind once again didn't cooperate as predicted. Our little diesel chugged away and after bashing into the waves with just a reefed main we finally anchored at Mangrove Cay on the Great Bahama Bank
at 9pm. After trolling 2 lines for 60 miles with no action as we left the deep waters of the Atlantic to enter the Bahama Bank Both reels started screaming. Brought a nice Barracuda alongside where he managed to bend the snap swivel as I was trying to gaff it. the other rod brought in a nice smaller but tasty Spanish Mackerel that made a fine dinner and chowder for lunch.

Wed
After a tiring crossing we enjoyed a quiet sunny day motorsailing in light winds to Great sail Cay where we met up with friends on S/V Stardust .

Thurs
Lite wind found us motorsailing once again. Fished the whole day catching a small(30") Barracuda, but losing two huge fish, one to a broken swivel, the other to a broken 50lb test braided line. Both were exciting fights but it seems I have a lot to learn about landing these big fish. The only consolation being that they were most likely Barracuda, which aren't good to eat at sizes over 36"(they build up a toxin from eating reef fish) and I would have had to release them anyway. Anchored at Allens Pensocola Cay with 5 other boats. Quiet night after a refreshing swim.

Fri
Finally a fair wind. Our plans were to visit friends on Manjack Cay but we were having such a good sail we continued on to Green Turtle where we wanted to visit Donnie who took such good care of us last year. Arriving at the harbor entrance at low tide we anchored off to wait for the water to rise so we could enter the shallow channel. While we waited we dingyed in to clear customs and greet a few friends from last year.
Wed
Sunny with light wind