Hi All,
We made it, pretty much as we planned the day. Alarm went off at 2:30, anchor up at 2:50 and we headed west. It was a bit bumpy, especially in the Gulf Stream, but not too bad.
The highlight of the day may have been when we encountered a pod of 15 spinner dolphin that swam just off of our bow for 10 or 115 minutes. Susan and I stood on the bow and watched until one by one they peeled off and went on their way. It's like being a little kid again when they're around.
We fished all the way across. Had one strike that might have been a wahoo, but it spit the hook out pretty quick. We caught the biggest mahi mahi I've ever seen. It did a neat dance on its tail just out of the water before he stripped all the line off the reel and was gone. Then we were down to one line in the water. As we were motoring along I saw just off the side of the boat a mahi mahi chasing a flying fish, it was just a flash. About the time our lure got to that spot we had a strike and got a mahi on. He put up a good fight but we got him on board and went to filleting him. After he was in the refrigerator it wasn't to much longer and we had another strike and another mahi. This one put up an even better fight, I'd say it took us 30 - 45 minutes to get him on board, Susan and I taking turns reeling. As we got him close to the boat we saw a second mahi swimming with him. Mahi hang together in schools and when you catch one, if you can stop (we couldn't), you can catch several by leaving one in the water until you catch the next one. Anyway, we only had one line and Susan rightly suggested we didn't really need three. Two mahi in the refrigerator and our fishing dry spell was officially over.
We got to Fort Pierce and anchored at about 4:30, next to Drew and Sharon on Z-Raye who have been here a couple of days. We were just getting settled when we were hailed on the radio by Fugue (Ralph and Beverly) that we met and had dinner with in Galveston just after we bought our boat. Talk about a small world! They left this morning so we didn't get to talk with them but they're going the same direction we are so I'm sure we'll catch up with them again in the next week or so. Drew and Sharon came over for a mahi dinner and a bottle of champagne before we collapsed.
Today we're going to the Navy Seal Museum here in Fort Pierce. Today or tomorrow we'll rack up some tremendous bills at West Marine, Walmart and Publix getting restocked with everything.
That's it for now. (posted without Susan's edits so excuse any grammatical errors) Take care.
Brian
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
Last Stop
Hi All,
It's our last night in the Bahamas and it's going to be a short one. We dropped anchor around 3:00 after topping of our fuel at West End, Grand Bahama. The alarm is set for 2:30 in the morning with plans to have the anchor up by 3:00.
We are anchored just off shore from this house...
Not bad. I hope they consider Good Morning Vietnam to be part of the charm.
Looking the other direction, Fort Pierce Florida is 82 nautical miles over there...
That's where we hope to be by 4:00 tomorrow afternoon.
Maybe, just maybe, we can catch a fish. We've been fishing for the last three days and have had only one bite. Whatever it was broke the line not long after he got on the hook. He did come out of the water briefly but I'm not sure what he ways. By the shape I'd say he was a barracuda, king mackerel or wahoo. Whatever it was, it did not make it to our dinner table. Sure would like some fresh fish.
That's it from us until we're in Florida. Take care.
Brian
It's our last night in the Bahamas and it's going to be a short one. We dropped anchor around 3:00 after topping of our fuel at West End, Grand Bahama. The alarm is set for 2:30 in the morning with plans to have the anchor up by 3:00.
We are anchored just off shore from this house...
Looking the other direction, Fort Pierce Florida is 82 nautical miles over there...
Maybe, just maybe, we can catch a fish. We've been fishing for the last three days and have had only one bite. Whatever it was broke the line not long after he got on the hook. He did come out of the water briefly but I'm not sure what he ways. By the shape I'd say he was a barracuda, king mackerel or wahoo. Whatever it was, it did not make it to our dinner table. Sure would like some fresh fish.
That's it from us until we're in Florida. Take care.
Brian
Saturday, April 23, 2016
Short Cut
Hi All,
After changing our plans twice, we have cut one stop and one day out. Friday morning we left Palm Cay Marina with a bit of rough seas, but after the first hour or two were able to put up the sails and sail pretty much all the way to West Bay. As we were pulling up to drop anchor we recognized Windarra, Jim and Ronda, some friends we made around Georgetown. They were anchored there as well and came over to catch up and have a few drinks. It was good to see them and we had lots of laughs.
Last night we had decided to change our route home, but this morning, after we were on our way we changed our minds again and decided to do the same route with one less stop. So today, rather than sailing to Little Whale Cay and staying there overnight we made it all the way to Great Harbour Cay. There is a beautiful and long beach here. Coincidence that it was our third stop in the Bahamas and will now be the third to last stop in the Bahamas. We anchored about 4:30 and are looking at an early night. Tomorrow we have approximately 65 miles to go to Freeport/Lucaya so we're going to get up at 5:00 and be moving well before sunrise.
Monday will be a short day going from Lucaya to West End. Tuesday will be another long day crossing back over the Gulf Stream, with us starting hours before sunrise so we can make Fort Pierce with plenty of sunlight.
That's it for now. Take care.
Brian
After changing our plans twice, we have cut one stop and one day out. Friday morning we left Palm Cay Marina with a bit of rough seas, but after the first hour or two were able to put up the sails and sail pretty much all the way to West Bay. As we were pulling up to drop anchor we recognized Windarra, Jim and Ronda, some friends we made around Georgetown. They were anchored there as well and came over to catch up and have a few drinks. It was good to see them and we had lots of laughs.
Last night we had decided to change our route home, but this morning, after we were on our way we changed our minds again and decided to do the same route with one less stop. So today, rather than sailing to Little Whale Cay and staying there overnight we made it all the way to Great Harbour Cay. There is a beautiful and long beach here. Coincidence that it was our third stop in the Bahamas and will now be the third to last stop in the Bahamas. We anchored about 4:30 and are looking at an early night. Tomorrow we have approximately 65 miles to go to Freeport/Lucaya so we're going to get up at 5:00 and be moving well before sunrise.
Monday will be a short day going from Lucaya to West End. Tuesday will be another long day crossing back over the Gulf Stream, with us starting hours before sunrise so we can make Fort Pierce with plenty of sunlight.
That's it for now. Take care.
Brian
Thursday, April 21, 2016
Headed Back
Hi All,
Just a quick update to let you know we're starting our trek back to the US. Tomorrow we plan on leaving Palm Cay Marina and go to West Bay at the (imagine this!) west end of New Providence Island. If the weather cooperates, and the forecast is looking good, we're going to move each day. From West Bay we'll go to Little Whale Cay, then Great Harbour Cay, Lucaya on Grand Bahama, West End on Grand Bahama and then Fort Pierce, Florida. If the dam don't break and the creek don't rise we'll be in Florida next Wednesday.
To have that many days in a row of good weather would be something new so there's a decent chance we'll get delayed a bit along the way but as I said, the forecast is looking good.
It's bittersweet. We hate to leave this beautiful water but hurricane season will be here before you know it and this is not the place to be during that time. We're also ready to be back in the US. I just finished updating my trip log spreadsheet. It's been 285 days since we left Kemah, Texas. We've traveled approximately 2585 nautical miles since then. We've been in the Bahamas for 170 days so far. We're going to be just short of spending a full six months here. It has been a great time and it sure has been nice to completely skip winter.
That's all for now. Take care.
Brian
Just a quick update to let you know we're starting our trek back to the US. Tomorrow we plan on leaving Palm Cay Marina and go to West Bay at the (imagine this!) west end of New Providence Island. If the weather cooperates, and the forecast is looking good, we're going to move each day. From West Bay we'll go to Little Whale Cay, then Great Harbour Cay, Lucaya on Grand Bahama, West End on Grand Bahama and then Fort Pierce, Florida. If the dam don't break and the creek don't rise we'll be in Florida next Wednesday.
To have that many days in a row of good weather would be something new so there's a decent chance we'll get delayed a bit along the way but as I said, the forecast is looking good.
It's bittersweet. We hate to leave this beautiful water but hurricane season will be here before you know it and this is not the place to be during that time. We're also ready to be back in the US. I just finished updating my trip log spreadsheet. It's been 285 days since we left Kemah, Texas. We've traveled approximately 2585 nautical miles since then. We've been in the Bahamas for 170 days so far. We're going to be just short of spending a full six months here. It has been a great time and it sure has been nice to completely skip winter.
That's all for now. Take care.
Brian
Monday, April 18, 2016
Our week with Alec and Nathan
Hi All,
It's been a busy week so we're just now able to take a minute to update you on what we've been doing.
Our friends Jay and Carol left on Sunday, April 3 and my grandson Alec and his friend Nathan arrived on Friday, April 8. In between we cleaned the boat and made multiple trips to town in order to stock up on the food we'd need for the following week. We also bought the 15 HP 2 stroke dinghy motor we've been coveting. Now we have two dinghies and 3 motors. Are you SURE you don't want to buy a dinghy and an outboard or two?
Alec and Nathan arrived Friday morning so we drug them along to make the last grocery store run and a few other errands before going back to the marina where we were docked. Palm Cay Marina is on the southeast corner of New Providence Island and is very nice with some great staff and all at one of the best prices on New Providence. Here are a few pictures from around the marina.
Saturday we headed to the Exumas to do some snorkeling and exploring. It took us about 5 hours to get to Normans Cay. This is the site with the DC-3 that crashed into the water which makes for an interesting snorkeling spot. Unfortunately I once again forgot to take my underwater camera and Nathan did as well. The unfortunateness (made up word) of this became even more evident a bit later.
Sunday we moved to Shroud Cay, just a bit south, and inside the Exumas Land and Sea Park. Here we met up with our friends Andrew and Sharon on Z-Raye. At Shroud we dinghy hiked to the other side by way of several salt water rivers that run through the island.
Sunday evening Drew and Sharon joined us for dinner and to celebrate Nathan's 18th birthday. Part of the great experience is every time we're anchored with Z-Raye or Miss Adventure, we always eat dinner together, on one boat or the other.
On Monday we moved to Emerald Rock which is just off the Land and Sea Park headquarters on Warderick Wells. Here we hiked up to the top of Boo Boo Hill on Warderick Wells and then snorkeled again.
Tuesday we move to Little Halls Pond so we could snorkel the Sea Aquarium. We also picked up our friends Kent and Heather on Miss Adventure here. We snorkeled the sea aquarium on Tuesday and then Miss Adventure and Z-Raye joined us on Good Morning Vietnam for cocktails and dinner. The bad news was half way through our snorkeling of the sea aquarium my waterproof camera was no longer waterproof. RIP
Wednesday we all piled onto Miss Adventure and motored over to Rocky Dundas, with three dinghies in tow, to do some more snorkeling. No pictures from me, if anyone else will send me theirs I'll add them. Rocky Dundas has two caves you can snorkel into, Alec and Nathan considered it the best snorkeling they had all week. Pretty much all of us saw the nurse shark that was swimming around and there is also one less Lionfish there. See my previous post about the destruction Lionfish are doing in Florida and the Bahamas.
Wednesday evening, thanks to Kent and Heather, will be one not many of us will forget. Kent and Heather have spent a lot of time in the Exumas over the years and have met several of the Island Managers. What is an Island Manager, you ask? If you were rich and you decided to buy your own island in the Bahamas, you would need some one to take care of it and run it for you. That's an island manager. Some islands have one, some islands have a few and some islands have a staff of forty. All eight of us were invited to a private island for cocktails by one of the "island managers". We had drinks at the palapa on the beach with a fully stocked refrigerator. We had a great time. Our host was a fantastic host as well as a lot of fun. I can guarantee Alec and Nathan will still be talking about that night when they're 50.
Thursday morning we said goodbye to Miss Adventure as Z-Raye and Good Morning Vietnam moved north, back to Normans Cay so Andrew and Sharon could snorkel the plane wreck and Alec and Nathan could as well, this time with a camera. Still no pictures from me. The current was running pretty strong so we only snorkeled 20 minutes or so and then went looking for other spots. It was a nice dinghy ride but we didn't find any place to snorkel.
Friday morning we moved farther north, to Leaf Cay and SW Allens Cay. They boys snorkeled all around and swam with a couple of nurse sharks. Here are a few pictures I took with my good camera.
Friday evening Drew and Sharon came over for our last night before parting. We got a few pictures of the group to close out the day.
Saturday morning Z-Raye headed to Eluethera and we headed back to New Providence. Sunday morning we took the boys to the airport for them to catch a plane home. We had a good time, I think they had a good time. It was a busy week.
I'm tired of writing and you're probably tired of reading. That's it for now.
Take care.
Brian
It's been a busy week so we're just now able to take a minute to update you on what we've been doing.
Our friends Jay and Carol left on Sunday, April 3 and my grandson Alec and his friend Nathan arrived on Friday, April 8. In between we cleaned the boat and made multiple trips to town in order to stock up on the food we'd need for the following week. We also bought the 15 HP 2 stroke dinghy motor we've been coveting. Now we have two dinghies and 3 motors. Are you SURE you don't want to buy a dinghy and an outboard or two?
Alec and Nathan arrived Friday morning so we drug them along to make the last grocery store run and a few other errands before going back to the marina where we were docked. Palm Cay Marina is on the southeast corner of New Providence Island and is very nice with some great staff and all at one of the best prices on New Providence. Here are a few pictures from around the marina.
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| No Alec or Nathan |
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| No Alec or Nathan |
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| No Alec or Nathan |
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| Ahhhh, there they are! Right where you'd expect to find 18 year old boys on their last high school spring break. |
Sunday we moved to Shroud Cay, just a bit south, and inside the Exumas Land and Sea Park. Here we met up with our friends Andrew and Sharon on Z-Raye. At Shroud we dinghy hiked to the other side by way of several salt water rivers that run through the island.
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| Susan, Sharon and Drew in Z-Raye's dinghy motoring up the river. |
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| Nathan kissing the beach on the Exuma Sound side of the island. |
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| The view from on top of Shroud Cay. |
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| A view of the river back to the Exuma Bank side. |
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| We made a short hike to a natural fresh water well. Here's Drew drawing some water from the well. |
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| Nathan was the only one "brave" enough to drink some of it. |
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| Perhaps this is why nobody else was interested in drinking the water. |
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| After our dinghy hike and short walk to the well, we snorkeled. |
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| Here is Alec trying to get a closer look at something. |
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| The "something" was a ray that was about 6 feet from wing tip to wing tip. They are so very graceful. |
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| Back on Good Morning Vietnam, Drew is ecstatic over the storage bag Susan made for his dinghy. |
On Monday we moved to Emerald Rock which is just off the Land and Sea Park headquarters on Warderick Wells. Here we hiked up to the top of Boo Boo Hill on Warderick Wells and then snorkeled again.
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| From the top of Boo Boo Hill. |
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| Alec and Nathan displaying their handiwork. On the top of Boo Boo Hill is a place to leave mementos showing you have been there. |
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| We're not the only ones to have done this. |
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| Good job! |
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| Z-Raye got in on the action too. |
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| Don't jump! |
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| Grouper |
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| One of the largest lobster we had ever seen. It's hard to get the scale in this picture but this guy was at least 3 feet long, not counting his antennas. "I'm in the park and you can't get me!" |
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| Notice Bahamian Lobsters don't have claws. Officially they are crawfish, not lobsters. |
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| Beautiful Queen Angelfish |
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| Another Grouper. |
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| The last picture taken with my underwater camera. |
Wednesday we all piled onto Miss Adventure and motored over to Rocky Dundas, with three dinghies in tow, to do some more snorkeling. No pictures from me, if anyone else will send me theirs I'll add them. Rocky Dundas has two caves you can snorkel into, Alec and Nathan considered it the best snorkeling they had all week. Pretty much all of us saw the nurse shark that was swimming around and there is also one less Lionfish there. See my previous post about the destruction Lionfish are doing in Florida and the Bahamas.
Wednesday evening, thanks to Kent and Heather, will be one not many of us will forget. Kent and Heather have spent a lot of time in the Exumas over the years and have met several of the Island Managers. What is an Island Manager, you ask? If you were rich and you decided to buy your own island in the Bahamas, you would need some one to take care of it and run it for you. That's an island manager. Some islands have one, some islands have a few and some islands have a staff of forty. All eight of us were invited to a private island for cocktails by one of the "island managers". We had drinks at the palapa on the beach with a fully stocked refrigerator. We had a great time. Our host was a fantastic host as well as a lot of fun. I can guarantee Alec and Nathan will still be talking about that night when they're 50.
Thursday morning we said goodbye to Miss Adventure as Z-Raye and Good Morning Vietnam moved north, back to Normans Cay so Andrew and Sharon could snorkel the plane wreck and Alec and Nathan could as well, this time with a camera. Still no pictures from me. The current was running pretty strong so we only snorkeled 20 minutes or so and then went looking for other spots. It was a nice dinghy ride but we didn't find any place to snorkel.
Friday morning we moved farther north, to Leaf Cay and SW Allens Cay. They boys snorkeled all around and swam with a couple of nurse sharks. Here are a few pictures I took with my good camera.
Friday evening Drew and Sharon came over for our last night before parting. We got a few pictures of the group to close out the day.
Saturday morning Z-Raye headed to Eluethera and we headed back to New Providence. Sunday morning we took the boys to the airport for them to catch a plane home. We had a good time, I think they had a good time. It was a busy week.
I'm tired of writing and you're probably tired of reading. That's it for now.
Take care.
Brian
Monday, April 4, 2016
Ardastra Garden and Zoo, Dolphin playing
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| On our way from the Exumas to New Providence Island |
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| The Flamingo pond at the Ardastra Garden and Zoo |
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| At Flamingo feeding time they are out amongst the visitors. |
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| A unique flower. Anyone know what kind of hibiscus this is? |
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| Cruise Ships in Nassau. |
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| A dolphin swimming along with us. |
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| We've only had this happen twice, both times have been in the last couple of days. |
Sea Aquarium and Normans Cay
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| The Sea Aquarium is part of the Exumas Land and Sea Park. It is just off Little Halls Pond Cay, which is owned by Johnny Depp. We didn't get the dinner invite we were hoping for. |
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| Not a very big area but some of the best snorkeling we've found. |
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| Many places have very few fish. Not true here. |
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| Jay and Carol headless. |
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| Just off Normans Cay, our own private island for a day. Very close to a DC-3 that is sitting in about 8 feet of water. It was another good snorkeling spot but unfortunately I didn't remember my camera. |
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| Jay and Carol the day before we took over the island. |
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