Moving south

Thurs- March 21-Allens-Pensacola Cay

The day dawned sunny with a brisk north wind and we headed south under reefed sails moving along at 6-7 knots. Great fishing with 2 macarell, a jack and 2 barracuda we released. Made the anchorage at Allens-Pensacola at 5pm and spent a quiet night. During the run south we broke 4 sailslides on the main, this is after breaking 2 a few days back. Apparently they have reached their lifespan being nearly 30 years old. A friend from previous years- Reggie on Adrenaline was the only other boat in the anchorage and he happened to have 4 used slides to give us. Will be looking to replace the rest.

Fri-Treasure Cay
Another clear day with the winds still north. Decided to continue south and get thru Whale passage before the wind and waves built again tomorrow. Sail all day wit a little help from the engine and made Treasure Cay at 3pm. Another fun fishing day with a mackerel  and a big jack that was great on the grill for dinner. Made a big pot of chowder with the Mackerel as we are out of freezer space.

Sat thru Mon
Another front has us hunkered down in this well protected anchorage along with 25 other boats.  The resort here charges $10 per day to anchor and use all their amenities and this along with a great beach makes it one of Chris' favorite spots.

Tues-  Man-O-War Cay

Skies have cleared and winds calmed to 18 kts so we ran south under reefed sails to the great harbor at Man o war. No anchoring in this harbor as it is filled with moorings. Picked up a mooring as the wind protection from the north is non existent nearby. In to the only sailmaker in the Bahamas where we were able to pick up some spare slides. Wander about this well kept village then on to a pot luck ashore that was attended by at least 40 boaters. We were entertained by an informal group of boaters playing 4 guitars, a mandolin, a fiddle and drums for a fun evening.

Marsh Harbor
March 27th
Off to Marsh Harbor under reefed sails with a brisk north wind. Picked up a few fresh veggies at the supermarket and an extra spare primary fuel filter at NAPA. Marsh Harbor is a small city where you can find most items a boater needs. Prices here are also much better than the islands further south.

Thurs-March 28
Little Harbor
Sunny but still cool north winds. The Bronze foundry at Johnsons art gallery was doing a pour at 1pm so having never seen this we headed out early to try to make the harbor in time. Missed the first pour but thankfully the had a second a few hours later.  They use the age old lost wax process and this is quite a site to see.

Hot work

Breaking away the plaster mold

Back on the water

March 2013

After having spent the summer enjoying our home and camp in NY's Adirondacks and a great winter in Florida we are finally back in the Bahamas for a few months.

Fri-Sat, March 16th- finally looks like we have a weather window to cross the gulf stream. Chris has been busy provisioning the boat while I have been finishing up a remodel/addition job for our friends Tom and Patty Amell. We have completed a few projects on Apres Ski over the winter and been out for some great daysails. Before launching this Oct we stripped the bottom and keel and applied new bottom paint. The addition of a new battery bank consisting of 4- 6 volt golf cart batteries, a link battery monitor and a 3rd solar panel will hopefully improve our electric situation but since I bought a small portable freezer we will most likely be still running the engine regularly . The canvas enclosure I made last year had to be completely redone, the material I used didn't hold up in the tropical sun and the seller replaced it but the labor involved in resewing everything was a big job.
Spent our first day on the water motoring south to Lake Worth where we will head out when the seas and wind cooperate. Had engine problems on the trip down and had to change both fuel filters. Spent much of the day Sat pumping out the bottom of the fuel tank and was able to separate a quart of water and a quart of gunk(algae) from the fuel. Added biobar to fuel and hope this is the last of the fuel problems. Moved late afternoon to anchor close to the inlet for an early morning departure.

Sun- Anchor up at 4am and motoring east in an easy ocean swell.  Wind is lite but right on the nose. Able to maintain over 6 knots all day and even got to sail a few hours when the wind veered a little to the south. Crossed onto the shallow water of the Bahama bank at 1pm finally catching a small yellowtail, the only fish in over 7 hours of trolling 2 lines.  Anchored for the night at Mangrove Cay at 5 PM in time for cocktails and a beautiful sunset. We have been in radio contact all day with sailing friends aboard Stardust and Incommunicado. It's comforting to know that even though we aren't traveling as "buddy boats" that in an emergency we have friends we can contact.  Both boats left after us but they decided to continued on another 3 hours to Great Sale Cay. We felt that since we never sleep well the night before a crossing that an early night is called for after 13 hours on the water.

Mon- A lazy morning led to a late start heading for Great Sale, Winds piped up to 18kts and we flew along a 6-7 kts for hours. Upon arrival at the anchorage decided the protection would be poor if the predicted cold front arrived earlier than expected . headed north to one of our favorite stops- Grand Cay where we were at anchor by 5PM . A trip in to the docks provided us with 6 lobster tails and 6 conk from a local diver for $20.  We managed to gorge ourselves on the lobster for dinner but saved the conk for another night. The predicted wind shift came at 3 AM and we were glad to be in a protected harbor.

Tues- A quiet day working on projects and cleaning up. Customs came to us on the boat at 5 PM and we cleared in easily. One surprise was that the cruising permit fee increased from $150 to $300 and they charged a $30 overtime fee. Cracked conk for dinner along with fresh baked brownies for later. Since lobster season ends this month stopped at a local boat and bought $20 worth of tails. What a deal for 18 tails. Trying to make room in freezer is the problem. Wish we could always have such dilemas.

Lobster tails for the freezer

Ocean side beach- Grand Cay

Wed-After Spent a great afternoon exploring the oceanside beach. Cold front expected overnite with big winds so we decided to move into the dock. We have been in here during big blows and the holding is poor in grassy bottom. Glad we were at the dock as the storm was fierce and a boat upwind from our spot dragged across the harbor. Always seems to happen in the dark of night.