Off to the Bahamas

Provisioning- Chris has been busy these past weeks making sure we are stocked up with supplies to last 3 months. Since this is our fifth season cruising the Bahamas we have a pretty good handle on what we need to bring along and what can be bought locally at a reasonable cost. Most food when available costs double what we pay here so we provision as much as possible. Beer is especially expensive but since it is heavy we limit what we bring. We can  our own venison, pork and our home grown fruits over the summer and also fill our freezer mainly with meat. Chris bakes bread and desserts regularly and I must say we eat well while aboard. Last year the fishing was excellent and we hope for the same luck this trip.

Shoving Off- Sat, Feb 22, 2014
    The weather is looking great for the next few days so we close up the house and move aboard. At 11am we are headed south to Lake Worth (Palm Beach) where we anchor for the night close to the inlet to make an early start.

Crossing the Gulf Stream- Sun 2-23
   Anchor up at 4 am and we motor out of the harbor with hardly a ripple on the ocean. We wait for calm seas to cross the Gulf Stream as it flows north at 4 knots and any North winds build big seas and make for a rough ride. By Dawn the south winds have built enough to raise the sails and we end up shutting down the engine and having a great sail for about half the trip. By 1pm we have crossed into the shallow waters of the Bahama Bank and are at anchor at our first landfall of Mangrove Cay by 5:30. This tiny uninhabited island is usually our first stop as if the winds are up we can get protection in it's lee from the waves. Very little boat traffic as we only saw 3 sailboats and 2 motoryachts all day. Dinner under the stars of fresh yellowtail snapper and Spanish Mackerel caught along the way topped of a great day.

On to Abaco- 
    Monday dawns with brisk winds and we head out under full sail flying along much of the day. Caught numerous fish with the best being a nice Mangrove Snapper we fixed for dinner and freezing 4 others and releasing a huge Barracuda. Anchored at Crab Cay along with 2 other boats.

    Tuesday brings calm waters and we motor all day stopping for lunch and clearing customs at Green Turtle
then continuing on to Treasure cay where we will wait out some nasty weather expected later this week.

    Wednesday is a beautiful sunny day and after spending the morning getting our phone and internet set up at the batelco office we were off to spend the afternoon at Chris' favorite beach. We are sharing this totally protected anchorage with 15 other boats but as the weather worsens more will pile in. The resort here charges us $10 a day to anchor but that allows us use of their pool, showers and internet. Cocktails with friends from the Catamaran True Colors who we met last year topped off another great day.

   Thurs-Fri The expected foul weather has arrived and we spend our time relaxing aboard. Winds howl but we are quite comfortable and dry reading and catching up on chores.

     Central Abaco

    Sat- Marsh Harbor- dawned sunny and cooler with brisk north winds, we headed south under full sail flying along at 7 kts and made Marsh Harbor in record time. Caught one big barracuda but cut it free, to big to eat. Our main reason to come into Marsh Harbor is for shopping and we picked up a case of our favorite local rum and a few fresh veggies.

at anchor Marsh Harbor sporting our new sun shades

Hopetown inner harbor, from atop lighthouse

at anchor below Hopetown Light

  Sun- Hopetown- with light winds we motor to Hopetown and anchor outside the crowded harbor. This quaint town is a favorite with boaters but the harbor is full of moorings with no room to anchor. Spent the afternoon wandering the narrow streets and walking the ocean beach.


     Mon- Lynard Cay- Sail south under gentle east winds to anchor in the lee of Lynard Cay. Caught a nice mutton Snapper that went on the grill for dinner. Had to cut off the head so it would fit the grill. After stuffing ourselves we still have leftovers for another meal. With a few days of moderate breezes predicted we have decided to make our way south to Eleuthra. This entails an open ocean crossing of 60 miles thru the northeast Providence channel crossing a major shipping lane along the way.  The seas on the ocean have been big for the past week and as we  settle in it’s hard to believe the weatherman that they will subside by morning.