A night to top all nights

Friday we went ashore at Grand Key and walked the town. Very nice with golf cart roads of concrete and very nice houses. People were cutting grass and their school goes form 1 thru 12 with about 200 students. Nanc bought bread and a pie and made french toast on Sat morning. We waited for high tide to clear a sand bar and motored over to Double Breasted Key. It is a series of long small islands with channels in between with sandy bottoms to anchor on. We picked up another buddie boat, S/V Hawk, with John and Cindy Hawkins on board. They had drug anchor the night before during the high winds. We all three anchored and the leeway was orientated at 320/140 degrees, and we were expecting a blow on Sat night form 320 degrees. After getting settled, everyone came over for Nanc's shrimp and steak dinner and Carlene broght the rum drinks, pasta, and Cindy brought the salad. Everyone left and the moon was full on the water and beautiful. Sat, John, DK, and I went hunting for lobster. We located many but only three surrendered. They made for a nice dinner for Nanc and I; since they were small. About 1730 you could see a very black line of clouds approaching from the NW as predicted and the heavens opened up, and it poured, with winds up to 40 knots.The wind generator almost lost it's mind and made unbelievable noise as the blades stalled out above 30 knots as designed. I tried to put the electronic brake on, but it would not engage. I had backed down on the anchor and buried it in the sand and it held fine. It then cleared up and the wind dropped down. At about 2330 the wind started picking up and blew at about 25 knots during the night. I checked the anchor several times, and we appeared to be holding until about 0500. When I checked I felt we had drug backwards away from Aviator and toward shallow water. We still had 10 feel under the keel; however I could see we had moved. I started the engine and added slight forward power to take tension off the anchor and reset it, which worked. We departed at 0645 and had a great sail all day to Green Turtle Key today, where we are anchored now. The wind is still blowing at about 15 to 20 knots, and I can here the generator doing it's thing. We are eating on Hawk tonight and will stay here for many days awaiting another big blow coming Tue/Wed. I plan on tying up at the marina on Tue night for sure. We passed a power boat who had been here on Sat night, and he said the winds had gusted to 80 knots here and blew screens in and a electrical pedestal over on the dock. Hope it is not the bad while we are here. S

And the wind blew and the rain fell

Oh what a night. We dinghied into Rosie's and had lobster for dinner. As we departed it had started to rain. The rain on the boat reminds me of my childhood when I slept at my grandmothers, because she had a tin roof outside my bedroom. The sound is kind of the same. I told Nanc I had to get some quick sleep; since I knew high winds would accompany the frontal passage. Boy did it ever blow. Our wind generator has a safety feature that causes the blades to stall at speeds over 30 knots and around 2330 they started to stall and woke me up. I dressed and went on deck to stand anchor watch and make sure Marcnicliz did not drag anchor. I had dropped it in the only sandy patch of bottom I could find and spent a lot of time backing down and trying to bury it in the sand. The effort really paid off. At night everything looks different. Boats and docks seem closer, and you need a plan in case you drag. I had put the key in the ignition just in case I needed to quickly start the engine. I then lined up some lights and poles to judge whether I was staying put or not. I used the front porch of someone's house , and the thought occurred to me that as I watched their house they were safely inside sleeping: not worrying about a dragging anchor. I could see the light on in our down stairs state room as Nanc continued to read. She then dozed off, and I continued on watch until 0130. The wind seemed at it's highest, and I had turned the wind generator off earlier to stop the noise, and it's effect on my nerves. I thought I saw a fellow's boat in front of us by the name of John who stopped by for conversation earlier; however this morning he was way down the chain of boats anchored here, and he told us on the radio later he had drug anchor during the night as well as a second boat. Marcnicliz stayed put. The forecast today is for diminishing wind as the day goes on and better conditions tonight and tomorrow. We may sail to Double Breasted Cay tomorrow. Movie tonight. S

Grand Cay is Grand

We departed West End this morning at 0730 and passed thru a very shallow cut at Indian Rock with water depths of 7 feet and the constant ringing of the shallow depth alarm. After three miles we were on the Little Bahamas Bank with water depths of around 15 feet most of the way here to Grand Cay. The entrance here was very shallow, and we had to cross a sand bar at about 7 feet. Marcnicliz's keel draws 5.5 feet, but she handled well and performed well all day. We are close to the end of civilization; however there are about 50 houses here and about 8 wifi signals, with one unsecure that I am using. We will await the frontal passage and the expected winds of 25 to 30 knots. The bottom here is grassy which the anchor will slide over top of unless you find a sandy area. I had to pull up once; however I can see the bottom and put the anchor right in the middle of the sand area which seems to be holding. There is a marina here, but I doubt there is enough water to get to the dock. We will probably put the dingy back in the water and go to the only restaurant named Rosie's which DK says is really good. Nanc and I put enough food on board to feed everyone here for a week if needed. She did a pork roast in the pressure cooker in Ft Lauderdale for my cousin and had it done in 20 minutes. It was really good, and she brought the cook book this time to give hints on how to use the cooker. S

Weat End Grand Bahama

My cousin Jimmy, who lives in Hollywood, FL, came and ate with us on the boat last evening. We got off the mooring at 0620 this morning and moved to the dock to top off the water tanks and spare bladder. We then motored to the 17th Street Causeway Bridge and waited for the 0700 opening. Carlene and DK managed to leave about 0630, and they have a 48 foot mast and did not have to wait for the 56 foot bridge to open. We caught them after about 2 1/2 hours and passed them on the way to West End as we crossed the Gulf Stream. At one point I had a 20 degree correction for the current. DK arrived an hour behind us. The winds and seas were light at about 7/8 knots and 3/4 foot seas. We arrived at West End around 1515 with our yellow Q flag (quarantine) flying. The wind picked up to about 12 knots by our arrival time, and made docking interesting. All the custom forms took 45 minutes to fill out, and I am now lighter in the pocket by $300 bucks, the entrance fee to the Bahamas. We are tied to the dock, and Nanc and I had a Cheeseburger in Paradise for dinner at the local restaurant. We will depart in the morning for Grand Key to anchor and wait out a front with a lot of wind that is forecast to arrive late tomorrow. We will be out of touch for several days. S

Ft Lauderdale

You can see from the Spot msg we are in Ft Lauderdale. We arrived in Lake Worth/ Palm Beach Friday at 2010 and anchored NE of Peanut Island with a lot of other boats. We then departed at 0735 and arrived on a mooring ball at Ft. Lauderdale's Las Olas Bridge area at 1415, after running outside. I stopped about 5 miles North of the Lauderdale entrance next to a dive boat and got some Cuban divers to inspect my rudder and keel. After running aground many days ago, I have been waiting on warm water to do the dive. When I saw the dive flag, I thought of a better idea. The diver reported some paint missing, but no injury to the fiberglass tip of the rudder. I am sleeping better. We plan on staying here until Tue and cross to West End, Grand Bahama Island with a wind on the beam if the forecasts hold up. Walked the beach yesterday and visited West Marine and the grocery store today. Carlene and DK are on a ball next to us, and we are having them for drinks and dinner tonight. The side curtains are finally rolled up, and we are in short sleeve shirts and swim trunks, sans any socks! Life is getting better. S
We have had Manatees playing around the boat ever since we got here. And on the way down, a pod of dolphins came, including a baby about 2 feet long, and jumped all around us .We are so lucky!! nanc

Long day's journey into night

Departed the dock at Indialantic at 0656 this morning after spending a very nice, relaxing day with Diane and Carlton. Super hosts, beautiful location. We went to the movies last evening with them to see "Blind Side" which was worth the effort. We used the ICW to Ft. Pierce, and the went out into the Atlantic to Palm Beach, Lake Worth entrance, and put the anchor down at 2010. I could not believe the number of boats in the anchorage without anchor lights on. I could see them against the light of the city, but definitely not legal and right next to the Coast Guard station on Peanut Island. I do not understand why they do not enforce the rules. We will depart for Ft Lauderdale in the morning, and should arrive around noon. S

Indialantic

Departed New Smyrna at 0656 this morning and arrived at Telemar Bay Marina at 1445 Put in 34 gals of diesel fuel, filled the water tanks, straightened up, and Diane and Carlton arrived. We are staying with them thru tomorrow and will wash all of our dirty things. The most interesting part of the trip down was getting under the 528 Bridge at Cape Kennedy. We thought we would have to go thru the Barge Canal where they bring the Shuttle tanks in for assembly and into the Atlantic to progress further South. Our buddie boat which is now ahead of us in Vero Beach heard a boat with a 62' mast go under on the next span over several days before. I called the Coast Guard, and they would not confirm that could be done due to liability issues. As we neared the bridge, we passed another boat with a lady at the helm with her sails out. I hailed her on VHF and asked her if she knew about the height restriction of 56 feet at the 528 bridge. She said yikes, and dropped her sails. I then passed another boat North bound with a taller mast than mine and he stated he didn't know anything about the restriction and motored right thru. I told him I would do the same thing, but when I returned to channel 16 a contractor lady at the bridge had listen to our conversation on channel 68 and asked me to please not go thru the center span; since the Northbound guy had almost clipped her workers on scaffolding under the bridge. I agreed to use the Eastern span next to the center one, and we fit thru with a foot to spare. I don't understand how the guy with the 64 foot mast got thru. If he had hit, it would have destroyed his mast. I called the Coast Guard and told them they needed to broadcast a report on channel 16 which all boaters monitor, until the painting is done. They had been, but the work was suppose to be over, so they stopped. Saw Rosy Spoonbills on the Indian River. Meeting Harry Richards tomorrow for a hair cut which is desperately needed, and Nanc is doing the same thing with Diane. S