Christmas Week in the Marsh Harbor area - Dec 17 - 25

We got into Marsh Harbor on Friday, got settled in, and met our guests as they arrived.  We also hooked up with Sandy and Rankin aboard Gypsea Heart.  Pat and Walt moved to their boat as our guests got in.  We spent the week visiting Hope Town on Elbow Cay, and Nippers on Great Guana Cay.  We snorkeled on parts of Elbow Cay (Tahiti Beach), and Guana Cay (Bakers Bay).  We walked some nice beaches, and also visited Treasure Cay by car.  All in all, it was a busy week.  We met some of Rankin and Sandy’s friends, and rejoined friends we met in Green Turtle.  On Christmas day, we had a potluck lunch at Marsh Harbor Marina, and just relaxed – including a short visit to a good snorkeling spot in the morning – lots of fish at Mermaid Reef.  

Early dinner in Hope Town

Hopetown Harbor

Heading back to the boat

Tahiti Beach

Anchored at Tahiti Beach

AJ and Katherine

The Beach at Nippers

AJ, Katherine and Abby

Gypsy Heart - at Bakers Bay

Going Snorkling - Bakers Bay

Lori finds a conch

Bill and Kim

  

Green Turtle Cay - Dec 12 - 16

From Manjack Cay, we headed down to Green Turtle to wait for a good weather window to pass through the Whale Cay cut.  So far, the weather reports had not been good.  Although the weather was fine inside the harbor, most cruising boats had to go through Whale Cut to reach Marsh Harbor.  This entails a 30 – 45 minute passage into the ocean before coming back into the Sea of Abaco.  Winds had been from the East at 25 knots or more, which caused ocean swells to come into the cut, making it treacherous.  So, boats were gathered at Green Turtle to wait for a forecast suitable for making the passage.  This is apparently a fairly common occurrence for winter passages.  We got to Green Turtle on Monday, and the weather didn’t allow a departure until Friday.  In the meantime, we anchored in White Sound on the north end and visited various parts of the island.  On Friday, we finally got a decent report of 4-6 foot rolling swells, and made the passage into Marsh Harbor to meet Kim, who was arriving on Saturday. The rest of our guests were arriving on Sunday.  We even got to catch a yellow fin jack fish worth keeping on the passage through the cut. 

  

New Plymouth - on the south end

Ocean debris art - at a local beach house

Waiting for the ocean to lay down

Pat & Walt at Green Turtle Club

The Green Turtle Club

Whale Cay - passing by

A keeper

Manjack Cay - Dec 10-11

After Spanish Cay, we headed south to Manjack Cay, just north of Green Turtle.  This was the original destination of the group of boats we followed out of Great Sale Cay.  It is a popular anchorage for boaters waiting for weather to get through Whale Cut into Marsh Harbor.  We got a chance to attend a full moon party held by a lovely couple of retired cruisers who now live on the cay.  They host a party once a month this time of year for cruisers at anchorage.  We had a nice bonfire on the beach, with everyone bringing a dish to eat. The hit was a young couple who had caught a bunch of local lobster, so their dish was lobster wrapped in bacon – quite a treat.  We had a chance to get in the water and do some snorkeling.  We saw an octopus, and were given a lobster tail for telling a couple where to find a lobster that we had spotted while snorkeling – it made a nice appetizer that evening.   

Anchored at Manjack Cay

Gathering for the Full Moon party

Building the bonfire

The bonfire works

The appetizer

Local driftwood art

Great Sale Cay to Spanish Cay - Dec 8 - 10

The next morning, we started late after trying to gather as much weather information from fellow boaters in the anchorage.  We were challenged as far as communication since we don’t have a single sideband radio on board, and were in too remote a location for cell phones or internet.  We left about 10:30 with winds back up for a good motor sail, following a group of boats from the anchorage, listening to them talk about weather and destinations.  They were headed to Manjack Cay.  We ended up taking a different course to Allens-Pensacola Cay for the night.  We dropped the dinghy and did a little exploring around the coastline. 

The next day we headed to Spanish Cay, where we stopped at a marina – our first chance to call home and check email.  It was also a good spot to clear customs, have a good hot shower, and dinner of cracked conch and grouper. It was managed by Chuck, from the great state of Alabama, who was more that hospitable.  The key lime pie was judged the best we have had. We spent the following morning touring Spanish Cay, which had its own airstrip, and got a chance to see a live conch in the shell. 

Motorsailing to Allens-Pensacola Cay

Walt listening to boat chatter

Anchored at Allens-Pensacola

The Allens Cay Hilton

Sunset at Allens-Pensacola

Spanish Cay

Local Conch

Lake Worth FLA to Great Sale Cay, Bahamas - Dec 6-7

After taking care of necessities in Lake Worth, the forecast was showing a short weather window for crossing the Gulf Stream Tuesday night.  East winds of 15-20 knots, settling into less than 10 knots on Wednesday before building again.  Good for motoring across.  After moving down to anchor at the inlet that afternoon, we left at 12:30A for a night crossing.  It took 16 hours to cross, with the forecasted winds right on target.  We arrived in the Bahama Banks in daylight, at 9:00A and threw out a fishing pole to see what could get.  The water went from too deep for the depth sounder to register to less than 20 feet in a matter of minutes. The crossing of the Banks was on absolutely flat, hazy, pale blue water.  We made first landfall at 4:30 that afternoon at Great Sale Cay, a popular stopover for boats crossing the Banks.

Staging at Lake Worth Inlet

Fishing on Little Bahama Banks

Nice Fish - but we let it go

Flat Waters - on the Banks

Pat at the helm

First Landfall - Great Sale Cay

Ponce Inlet FLA to Lake Worth FLA - Dec 1-3

The morning of Dec 1, we slept in, and had a late start.  The marina was shallow at low tide, as was the channel we had to travel to get back to the ICW.  So, all in all, it was better to wait for mid – rising tide before leaving.  We left at 10:30, and traveled south to Titusville.  We anchored just past the JFK Center bridge for the night.  The following morning, we decided to continue down the ICW, since the offshore forecast was not looking good.  We ended up setting a new record for ICW distance, traveling 80 SM on a motorsail with 15-20 knot winds to reach our intended anchorage at Ft Pierce.  We arrived before sunset and settled in to an anchorage just past the Fort Pierce North bridge.  On Saturday, we traveled the final 50 SM to Lake Worth.  It was a good motor sail/sail, and just a few final bridges to pass through.  We arrived just before 4:00P and settled into the anchorage.  This will be our spot to reprovision, do laundry and visit West Marine before heading across to the Bahamas.

Night Shot of the Lighthouse

Pat & Walt at the Helm

Sunset at Titusville

Kite Sailing

A Gozzard - nice boat

Dinghy Races

Christmas House in Palm Beach

Anchored in Lake Worth

St Catherine’s Sound GA to Ponce Inlet FLA – Nov 29 - 30

We awoke to clear, cool weather, and headed offshore.  The forecast was for west winds, 15 – 20 knots, favorable for an easy run down the coast.  It turned into more  northwest winds of 30 – 40 knots and lasted that way through the day and until about 9:00P that night.  It was a challenging motor sail under ¾ main and just a “triangle of jib”.  We ended up coming into Ponce Inlet around 2:00 in the afternoon on Wednesday.  We could have continued, but we needed to refuel after the overnight trip – and catch up on a little sleep.

Ponce Inlet was an interesting entry from the ocean.  Weather and tides make for shifting entrance channels that seem to be continuously moving around.  We stopped to refuel and spend the night at a marina just at the base of the “world famous” Ponce Inlet lighthouse.  Although the lighthouse was still called the Ponce De Leon lighthouse, the name of the town had been shorten to just Ponce Inlet.  The lighthouse itself had recently been refurbished, and was in good condition.  It offered panoramic views of the inlet if you were willing to climb 203 steps.  It was a nice tour, followed by dinner at a local restaurant, and an early bedtime.   

Healing in a stiff  breeze

Sunset - heading south off of Cumberland Island, Ga

Pat - traveling at night - a cold puppy

Sunrise on the ocean

The Ponce Inlet Lighthouse

View from the lighthouse of Ponce Inlet

The lighthouse stairs