Bimini Wednesday

We departed Chub Cay at sunrise 0700 and motored on a mirror sea to Bimini and tied up at 1920. We got into shallow water about 10 miles out and touched bottom,then again as we entered the harbor here. Both times the chart plotter was showing over 10 feet of water. Raised the tension level the last hour. We ate at the Anchorage restaurant this evening and had a good meal. Carlene and DK were an hour behind us and anchored at Cat Cay for the night, about 10 miles South where we touched bottom. We brought Joe here to have one more experience. He spent part of the day on the fore deck acting like Leonardo de Caprio. We will meet Aviator in the ocean tomorrow morning. They will weigh anchor at 0630 and be here around 0800 about 4 miles off the coast. We will take on fuel and leave around 0745; the fuel dock opens at 0700. We have off loaded all the trash and are ready to return to the ole US of A. S

Tue and Cindy and John Hawkins have gone

Actually we left Devil Hoffman Cay with Aviator this morning, after spending a rolly, windy night, after a cold front passed thru. Cindy and John are spending another week there, and we are now at Chub Cay waiting to cross the Great Bahama Bank to Bimini tomorrow . Another change in plans; hey we are now retired. We will cross the Gulf Stream from Bimini to Lake Worth/ Palm Beach the following day to clear customs prior to Easter. We are afraid everyone will take vacation, and we would be stuck on the boat until Monday if we wait. The weather looks promising, according to Chris Parker, to make it across on Thursday. We will work North and try to see the Shuttle go up on Monday. We departed at 0730 on a rising tide to cross a sand bar and sailed to Chub in 3+20. Nanc, Carleen, and I walked the beach while Joe and DK went snorkeling and caught 4 lobster and a grouper. I saw two sharks, a barracuda, and two rays. Nanc already had steak thawing. "Good chuck wagon" tonight as Marty Kable says; steak and lobster. Well, I now have to take Nanc out with her lookie bucket to see what is under the sea! The meal is now over; it was super, and the full Moon on the water is impossible to describe. S

Sunday, Atlantis, and Joe is here

Joe arrive yesterday and I gave him the the quick tour of the facilities, especially the aquarium while Nanc swam in the ocean and the hot tub. We dinged to Columbus Tavern last evening, about a 15 minute ride thru wind and waves, but no one got wet. We talked well into the night and started rigging to go to sea this morning. Water is on and the weather is checked. The conditions are on the limit, and we will try it and turn around if we need to.I took some pictures to share. We will be out of touch for several days at Devil Hoffman Cay in the Berrys. S

Friday night in Nassau

We are moving to Atlantis tomorrow, since they have a vacancy. Joe should arrive around 1430, and we will show him around town and Atlantis. We rode around the harbor in our dingy (car) and saw the new Royal Caribbean ship Oasis of the Seas. It is noticeably larger than the other cruise ships docked near by. We went to Columbus Tavern and made dinner reservations for tomorrow night to give Joe a taste of the good life. We had a lady, Carolyn, whom we met in Marsh Harbor two Sundays ago and drove us to church, to dinner last night with her friend Kendal. They were lovely folks who live here in Nassau, and she is studying for a second career in law. I have had my second scuba tank filed with air, so Joe and I can scuba dive in the Berrys on the way home. The weather looks good for a departure to the Berrys on Sunday and then on to Freeport on Tue/Wed and somewhere in Flordia Thursday/Friday. I check the weather first thing in the morning on our high frequency single side band radio (HF/SSB). Chris Parker is located in central Florida and most cruisers listen to his forecasts. He is absolutely the best. Remember, I was a pilot for over 50 years and have had a lot of briefing in that time. I then get National Weather System Marine forecast. I also down load Underground Weather on the computer, and then I check Intellicast for their radar presentation. Then I try to decide who is right. Chris normally wins. I received an e-mail this evening from Harry Richards who informed me that they will try and launch the Shuttle on April 6. Be nice to be around and see that. Still thinking how to make it work. Anyway, I will top off the water and fuel tanks tomorrow and fill the 60 gal water bladder on Sunday to tanker water to my friends who are at Devil Hoffman Cay and should be low by now. I have put extra varnish on some of the teak and fixed all the little things, polished everything I can reach, and we are now ready to start back. S.

Lobster boat surprise

We moved off the anchor into Nassau Harbor Club Marina. It makes it easier for Nanc and gives me peace of mind in this crowded anchorage. The boat does funny things with the wind blowing one way and the tide moving in another direction. Tied to the dock you can sleep like a baby with the gentle rocking and air conditioning. You got it, it has finally gotten really warm or almost hot. We know the dock master, Peter, who is a super guy from Holland whom we met last year. We have dinghied over to Atlantis to try to slip there for the weekend, but there are not any slips available for Sat night due to Spring Break and a concert. We shopped for some food items yesterday at a market just across the street , renewed the rum supply (very important), and bought 6 videos for late evening viewing. Avatar, I am too old to appreciate most of it. I understood the message. Don't cut down trees that many things depend on for a life. Brave Heart...? Academy Award? Tonight is Nine, wait for my review. We toured down town today and bought two swim suit cover ups for dining room table cloths. They look really nice, better than place mats. Prior to that, we rode the bus down town for $3 for both of us and toured Fort Fincastle. Then we stopped at Cafe Matisse for a drink and rest stop for Nanc. OK, lobster boat. Since I had rum for the sunset, I was in the cockpit as a runabout moved by holding up lobsters as the sun was setting. We bought two lobster and a hog snapper for $36 dollars. He cleaned all of them. Too much; however Nanc pointed out that a dinner downtown for two would cost over $80 bucks, I guess I made a deal. We had steak and a baked potato as the sun set, and wished all of you were here with us. There is still time and three sleeping spaces available. Just send an e-mail. We hope to start North for home on Sunday, after eating our lobster and Hog Snapper. Life is good, don't spend it all making money you will never spend on yourself. S

Nassau Sat evening

We are in Nassau tonight (Sat) after leaving Devil Hoffman Key this morning at 1000. The passage was 37 miles and uneventful until we got something wrapped around the prop about 4 miles from the entrance to Nassau. I got my scuba gear out after we anchored here, and found a small piece of rope wrapped around the prop shaft. I remove that and replaced the zincs; since I was already suited up and under the boat. A new cold front is due Sun\Mon with some increased wind. We spent a very relaxing few days in the Berrys at Devil Hoffman Cay after sailing from Little Harbor in the Abacos. We dingy into Little Harbor and toured an art gallery with a sculpture on sale for $120,000. We didnot buy it; however it was really something. to see. We fished (Nanc too) and lobstered with zero results. Bill Tice, a friend who works at West Marine dingy by and stopped to see who was on a boat form Deltaville and almost fell out of his dingy when I appeared topside. He joined us for a while and we laughed about the small world. I mean we were in the middle of no where with very few folks around. Like Gilligan's Island.

We ate on Aviator with DK and Karlene, after they caught several groupers and other fish which were shared. We saw a very large shark at the surface eating something as we motored over to their boat. We collected conch, and Nanc made a very good chowder which we ate last evening and again this evening. We had a cookout on the beach yesterday and roasted hot dogs over an open fire with all the condiments which was really special. A beautiful beach right next to where we had anchored.

We are now waiting for Joe to join us next Sat and start the trip home. S

Sunday and moved the clock ahead

Another beautiful day in the Abacos. We had a party on board Marcnicliz last evening, before going up to the club house and having a super meal of steak and baked potato with about 100 other folks. I thought of how to convey what life is like on a boat and in a marina in Marsh Harbor or anywhere else. First is the beautiful sights of the water and reflections on the crystal blue water. Next is the smell of salt water and the sound of the sea birds or the sound of the wind in the rigging which makes them hum and groan in a deep resonance. The constant rocking motion makes for easy sleeping. All the friendly folks walking by on the dock who waive and sometimes stop to talk. You make a lot of new friends. Nanc makes twice as many as me in the same amount of time. Speaking of time, I had to remove three screws from the clocks base to remove it from the bulkhead to get it down and move it ahead an hour. We were trying to find out what time the Anglican service starts so we could dingy over. I finally called on VHF channel 16 and someone stated 1100. We dinghyed over and had a two hour service which is a record for me. We have Marcnicliz ready to go to sea again, with the dinghy motor on the rail and the dinghy hanging on the davits. We are watching the sun set while having a sundowner and thinking of a neighbor friend, Joe Davenport, who is thinking of joining us for the return trip which would be really nice. S

Friday 12th

Winds are picking up and are now gusting to 30 knots. I added another spring line on the starboard side. We met another couple, Dick Clay and his wife who are on their new Beneteau 47 slipped here in the same marina and are from the Deltaville area. They bought their boat from Jonathan at Annapolis Yacht Sales South as we did. Nanc and I walked to the Marsh Harbor Beach Resort for lunch, and if any of you are looking for a vacation spot, I recommend it to you. Radar and forecasts both support rain tonight, and clearing tomorrow by dawn. We plan on church Sunday and then move out of the marina to anchor. Monday we will sail to Little Harbor where there is a cut to the ocean. We will anchor there until Tue morning and sail to Devil Hoffman Cay on Tue as the wind diminishes and spend a week. Hawk has folks joining them here tomorrow and will hang out here next week, then join us there. I think Nanc and I will go to Nassau for a few days, and then start the trek back to D'ville. S

Marsh Harbor Thursday 03-11

Well the wind has arrived, but as I have found all over the world, the temp and breeze is the same in the bar. We are having hors d'oeuvres in the Rib room at the marina and a Sundowner in our short sleeve shirts and swim trunks and loving life. Nanc walked from the marina to town today which was over a mile and very impressive for her. Super views of the ocean and Sea of Abaco. We ate at a restaurant in town and had a good salad and conch chowder. Caught a cab back to the marina, and she watched Oprah on the TV while I read. Made a Skype call to the grand kids. Already planning next years adventure. Life is good. S

Marsh Harbor via Numjack Cay

We stayed at Green Turtle Cay thur Monday morning. Nanc, Carleen, and I went to the Anglician Church via dingy on Sunday, and experienced a warm welcome and great service. The singing was almost as good as what we heard in Tahiti several years ago. We motored back North 5 miles to Numjack Cay on Monday and went fishing and lobstering on the reef. It was pretty rough, and hard to keep the dingy off the coral heads. We watched a movie last night and motored in light wind out into the ocean to pass a sand bar and get to Marsh Harbor. All three boats are now tucked in here awaiting the next blow which is to start tonight and build thru Friday. There are many boat here; however DK says there are only about ten percent of the usual crowd! The water is beautiful and we have been back in short sleeves and swim trunks for many days now. The sign over the bar say "If you are drinking to forget, please pay in advance." The other says "Jimmy Buffett for President, put a real pirate in office," or "Men no shirt no service; Women no shirt, free drinks." Life is good. As I was sitting in the bar/Dock Master's office Lisa Morrow, who I know back in Deltaville, VA, strolled into the bar/office. Six degrees of separation! S

New Plymouth on Sat Night

We are still in Green Turtle. A lot of wind last night, and we again drug anchor. I have only done that three times, and two has been on this trip. I have two hundred foot of rode out tonight. The bottom is grassy and it is hard for the anchor to set. All six of us went into New Plymouth tonight for an evening on the town. Tying up at the town dock, with a ten foot climb to the deck was the first challenge. Not puncturing the dingy with the nails sticking out was really the first hurdle; since we were three miles from the boats. We walked a short distance into the town to the basket ball courts where they were having a fund raising BBQ for a church youth group. First, we had a Goombay Smash at the Blue Bee and then the BBQ from across the street. Nanc talked the owner of the Blue Bee into allowing us to eat our BBQ there even though she had a restaurant in a back room, if we all had another Smash. We did and Karlene, who weighs all of one hundred pounds got kind of smashed. We then rode back to the boats in the pitch blackness with one all around white light on the back of my dingy. Reminded me of the night I got lost on the Amazon River at night except we had no lights then. I ask Nanc if she was having fun and she confirmed she was loving it. An adventurous woman if there ever was one. Well I can hear the wind generator spinning, pleasant dreams. S

Wind and more wind

We are tied to the dock at Green Turtle Club Marina, and the wind started blowing yesterday (Tue) in the 0800 time frame and made docking interesting. The Dock Master had me pull bow in first, which would make it hard for Nanc to get off the boat. He did that due to the water depth at the dock. A power boat next to us left, and I moved Marcnicliz into that slip with the stern in first. Works much better. I had DK get on board and help with the docking which really helped. Hawk then came into the Marina and took my first slip. We had quite a time getting him tied up. Had five people helping.The wind had been blowing from the SW at 20 knots and changed to the NW over 30 during the night. It is howling outside right now. I am glad we came into the marina and tied up. DK stayed on his 65 pound anchor over night, and when I looked out this morning he was anchored in close to the docks. I believe he probably drug during the night, but I have not been able to raise them on the radio this morning. We will all be glad when the Jet Stream moves further North, and these lows stop running over top of us. I rode a bike into New Plymouth yesterday and got a TV cable, so Nanc could watch cable TV here at the dock. Quite a ride into the 25 knot wind for 3 miles. It was easier coming back with a tail wind. I stopped flying 6 years ago, and I am still dealing with tail winds! We will hang out here thru the weekend and head for Marsh Harbor next week or maybe this weekend. Today is laundry day. S