Back to Reality (I think)

Once you arrive back into a country, you need to do immigration for both yourself and your vessel.  We had chosen Ft. Pierce as we have our car nearby, how convenient is that! After a good sleep, it is now time to see Homeland Security and Customs.  When we arrived at the Airport, there were lots of other sailors too, renewing cruising permits and checking in.  It was slick.  As we had not driven a car in a few months, it felt strange and the traffic, well what can you say.  We took "Tango" (Chris and Brenda) around to get groceries and to West Marine.  We anchored out a few days, said good bye and here we are today at Nettles Island.  It's scrub up, wash up, do the laundry and close up the boat for another season.  We will be here till the end of April.

This was just the other day on the ICW, we did not hear what actually happened but this boat was anchored not far from us, we think he was slow and the bridge tender was lowering the spans.  He got caught up in the span.  Good bye to his wind indicator, vhf antennae, a broken spreader and his forestay! The bridge was closed for about an hour.  Not a good way to end your holiday.

Time to Head Home

We left the Sea of Abaco and headed back around "The Whale" it was calm, calm.  We sailed back to Green Turtle Cae into White Sound and anchored out for the night.  The Bluff House Marina has a Thursday special.  You can stay in the marina for free, if you eat and drink your dockage. So on Thursday  just before Easter, we headed into the dock.  Good thing too because the weather was going to close in.  This was an excellent decision, it poured cats and dogs, but we had a wonderful dinner! Along with this deal you could stay for free for the Easter Weekend! We had access to the Internet and checked the weather.  Bingo, we had a weather window to sail back to the USA.  Keep in mind you can sail all the way through or break it up.  It depends on that window and the sea state of the gulf stream.  It takes about 30 hours or give or take 3 days of travelling.  There were a few more islands that we wanted to see on our way home, we left Easter Sunday with high tide from the marina.

The wind was just perfect and we were clipping along at a good speed.  We decided to head to Great Sail Cae and spend the night.  We passed all the islands that we wanted to stop at but what the heck, leave something to see for next year!  I counted about 24 boats in this bay, everyone was heading home!  We had a "Sundowner" on "Tango" our Buddy Boat and watched the sun go down.

The wind was dying out and we had to motor sail and at times just take the sails down and motor.  The second night we slept out in the wide open ocean on the "Little Bahama Banks" in 6 feet of water.  We rolled around as we had the swell from the ocean.  It was a weird feeling but a sight to see.  We retired early and was up at 3 am.  Time to do the last stretch.  We arrived in Ft. Pierce inlet Tuesday at 2:30 pm.

Morning and the sky's are clearing!

Calm, calm

Flat as far as you can see.....no land, but just the sea and sky!

Sun Set on the Little Bahama Bank

Sailing on the Sea of Abaco

Here are some pictures of "No Keys" sailing full sail on the Sea of Abaco.  These were taken by Terry & Kim on "Clarity".

Sailing in the Abacos was just wonderful!  Chris and I would check to see which way the wind was blowing and set sail for that island.  We even managed to hit 8 knots! There were a few times that "the captain" would almost put the rail in the water.  Not good for "the admiral", things move around down stairs and I would have to stay on the rail and hold on tight!  Great fun for "the captain" he is a racer at heart.

One day we even had that chance to "sail the spinacker".  We had perfect wind conditions and it was the 1st time in many years that we got to put it up!

Road Trip

Chris and I and another couple on "Shapies Dream" (Pat and Dianne) rented a car for a day! It was windy so it made it a perfect day to do some exploring.  The car was brand new, we were expecting something else with dents, like most cars that we had seen on the various islands.

From Treasure Cae we set out to find the "Blue Hole".  We had asked directions and they were like this.  Go down the road until you get to the T, turn right, go down the road until you see a burned out school bus, turn left, follow the road until you see 2 more burned out cars, follow the road to the end and you should arrive at the "Blue Hole".  With these instructions in hand, we headed out.......we almost gave up and low and behold, we found the burnt out cars!  We weren't lost!

This was a very large hole and very deep, it was almost creepy.  While we have been to the Abacos, there were lots of forest fires.  There are lots of pine trees and it was very dry. These fires would burn for days and then smolder underground.

Time to get back into the car and head up the road.  We stopped and drove around each town until we ran out of road, end of the line.  We were on a hunt for lobsters as well.  Each town had a take out place and we did have an excellent lunch at the end of the road.  We came upon some fisherman in one town and yes, they had lobster and fresh fish.  So we purchased some lobster for dinner!  Yum Yum!

Ouch!

Lots of Conch Shells

The Guard at a Power Plant

Treasure Cae Airport.

Man O War Cae

We stayed on a mooring ball in the Man O War Harbour.  It was pretty crowded and we were lucky as we were passing through that a boat we met last year in Marathon was just dropping off one.  What a lucky day. Man O War is known for building boats.  It is a very colorful island and pretty prosperous. We walked from one end of the island to the other. I took a lot of pictures!

This is James Bonds Underwater Submarine!

There are signs everywhere here in Man O War

A boat fresh out of the mold.

This one has the bottom painted and waiting for the next step!

All done!

Real cannons for sale!

The of the last original homes here.

Conch all in a row

Mr. Curly Tail sunning and shedding! There Everywhere!

Nice enough to golf on!

Every Home here has a bell at the gate.  I took pictures of them that I could find.  Last count 62,

Found this gem direct from London at the gate of a beautiful home.  Must of bought it on Ebay!

More Marsh Harbour

March 17 to April 1, 2012

We have been sailing sailing sailing. This is just a wonderful place to do so! We have been going to wherever the winds would blow us.  As I said before there are some big cities that you need to visit to do laundry, get provisions and or just hide out for a cold front.  We went back to Marsh Harbour to wait out a nasty storm.  We have sat though a few and the best thing is, it rains and washes the salt away. Each little island is unique and has a character all its own!  The sailing season is coming to a close and the harbour in Marsh was not as crowded as it was a couple of months ago.

Another Beautiful Sunset

Norman's Castle

This is a unique home that was built in the 1940's.  The man to whom this house belonged to was an American that fell in love with the Bahamas.  After he finished his naval career he came to the Islands. There were no doctors so he studied and learned from hands on.  We had a little boat that he would sail to the Out Islands.  The Bahamians came in droves to see him as he went from one island to another.  My girlfriend "Elaine" lives in Nassau and her son gave me a book that was based on his life.  It was very interesting and taught Chris and I a little more about the islands and gave us a wonderful history lesson.

Road Side Take Out

The Storm Front Approaching

We were in bed when the storm finally came through.  It was about 12:30 am and wow did it rain and blow.  Our wind speed indicator does not work but we heard it was blowing around 50 knots of wind.  There was wind driven waves in the harbor and it rained so hard, it even filled up our dinghy.  The next day was just beautiful as if it never happened.  So we picked up anchor, stuck our nose out again.

We headed to Man O War Cae.

St. Patricks Day

We are now back in Treasure Cae.  We sailed all the way back on Thursday so to say good bye to our good friends on "Clarity".  We left Lanyard Cae at 8 am and arrived at 3 pm.  Chris was happy we managed to sail at 8 knots and that was with a reefed main and jib.  The wind was squally and there was a good chop on the Sea of Abaco.  The sails went up and down a few times.  So lots of grinding. It was a fast!  We were glad we left the south as another storm was coming.  We just got back from Pete's Pub, just in time when the sky's opened up and wow did it rain.  We caught rain and did some laundry, plus washed the boat from all its salt! It had rained all night with a good flash show as well.

Today we went looking for lobsters and did a little fishing.  Still skunked though, maybe next time!

We plan to spend a few more days and head out to another destination!  Stay Tuned!

Little Harbour

After spending 3 days in Hope Town, it is time to move on.  We are heading to Lanyard Cae. There is a lot of way points to hit and ensure that you do not run aground.  There are a couple of routes to follow depending on what your draft is.  We draw 5 feet 4 inches, so we make sure that we have the tide with us.  Everyday we listen to the weather and ensure that we get local knowledge of all the exits to the Atlantic Ocean.  The Ocean has been rough, we must pass through one of these exits between the islands in order to reach Lanyard Cae.  We had a great sail with the winds from the east 15 to 20 knots. The Island Bar Cut was rough and we did move a few things around downstairs. Lanyard Cae is a huge Island but there is not much on it. Trees and sand.  It is however a great place to anchor when you want to get away from it all. Nicely protected from the winds and the swell.  We explored the beaches and gathered up driftwood for an evening fire and a sing song with Chris playing his guitar.  Sorry did not take any pictures.

There is still one more place to visit while you are in the Abacos, Little Harbor.  This is the furthest south you can sail to.  The Atlantic was quite rough and we could see Little Harbor in the distance, our plan, go by dinghy!  Well we set you with another couple from Sharpies Dream and off we went with Life Jackets On.  It was a long ride!  We held on and did the 4 foot swell across the last opening to the Atlantic before heading to Eleuthra.  There is quite a large sea out there.  We made it and we weren't that wet! but we are watching the sky!  Thunderstorms are coming, but we have time still.  Trick is get back to your boat before the sky's open up!

Proof we made it to the South!

The Bronze Foundry

Bronze Turtle

Bronze Ray

 The Foundry here was open when we came, so we got to see the Artists hard at work. They were in many different stages of making statues.  From making the molds to finishing up to the final product.  One piece was for sale for $120,000.00.  There were busts of famous Bahamanian's, dolphins, star fish, etc.

Time for Lunch!

The full fledged Atlantic Ocean!

Hope Town

From Treasure Cae we sailed back to Marsh Harbor to get some fresh veggies and spent the night in the harbor.  Our next stop is Hope Town going further south.  We are hoping that a mooring ball is available as there is a cold front coming, again.

The entrance way to Hope Town Harbour

The beach on the Atlantic Side

You could almost go body surfing!

Cold front is coming!

The Money Wall at the Edge

"No Keys" is on the right.

The Elusive Yellow Snapper, hard to catch these babies. Guess we are not Fisherman.

A Morning Dove just cooing.

How Groceries are Delivered!

Saturday Afternoon Sailing Regatta

97 Steps to the Top

The view from halfway up.

Kerosene Boilers 

View out to the Atlantic Ocean

View of the Sea of Abaco

Gingerbread Rental

Hope Town is just a beautiful town to visit.  Every home is painted a every hue of the rainbow. The homes remind me of Key West.  Rentals.....well anywhere from $700.00 per week and up to $11,000.00 per week. Yes, that much! There is also multi million dollar homes here. And it seems that everything is for sale!