Sunset in Lake Worth

Sitting tight for the night watching the thunderstorms go north and miss us. Heard our first sirens in over two months.

Crossing the banks to Mangrove Cay

Leaving the Bahamas ....heading to Florida!

Up early to listen to Chris Parker (the SSB weatherman) and then it was off to West End. The sail there was 23 miles and once again the wind was mostly behind us. From Indian Rock it was off into the Gulf Stream and we were hoping for east-southeast wind but between the south wind and the current there was no chance for Ft Lauderdale today. So.....off across the stream to Lake Worth we went. Pulled into the anchorage at 5pm for a good 85 mile sail. The waves were pretty big on the Bahamian side of the stream but they were smaller on the west side and our timing was good for going into the Lake Worth Channel as the tide was going in with us. Check out the pictures......talk about blue water, huh??!!

Back in the USA but we will go back!! There is plenty more to see and do. We have only scratched the surface over in the Bahamas.

Mangrove Cay

We cruised out of Green Turtle Cay at 7:30 am and set sail for Mangrove Cay. The sail was mostly DDW (dead downwind) but it was fine anyways. We made it into the anchorage (really just near the Cay where waves wrapped around from both sides of the very small cay and bounced you from two different directions ) by 4pm. Just in time for a swim to wash off the suntan lotion, get Nu-it deflated and tied down for the crossing and to sit down to watch our last sunset in the Bahamas for this trip.

Florida ......here we come??!!

We are going to try to make a crossing over the next 48 hours so we will be out of communication during the time. We are leaving Green Turtle Cay this morning and target Mangrove Cay for the night.

Hope to see some good weather and a smooth crossing.

Heading west today

Today we said our goodbyes to the 3 hulled crews and sailed west.....

After sailing over 1,000 miles this winter and spring, today we made our first sail that will eventually find us in Charlotte Harbor on the west coast of Florida. Weather made up our mind on the direction we decided to go since there has been a tropical low to the southeast of the Bahamas and the exit strategy of going to the Berry's was dropped. Now we head back through the Abacos and the first step is to get by the "Whale". This had to be today since the winds and potential weather for the next few days will stop travel across it soon. No problems except it was pretty lumpy. The motor yacht will need a bath after blasting through it!

We will hang out in Green Turtle Cay for a few days to wait out the weather. Then........westward ho!

Matt Lowe Cay

Yesterday we had a nice sail over to Matt Lowe Cay for one last get together happy hour on Grey Hound and also for some of Rex's crazy stories. He was ordered not to start any until at least 7pm. He made it to 7:01!

Beside us was a boat that broke rule 007 that reads......."Never, ever go past the trimarans in an anchorage"! Yes, the old rule about never buying a charter boat is true also.

Talk about beautiful.....this place was post card perfect!

And just what is this Teagan???

This is for you Teagan Rose!!!!

Sometimes.....size matters!

After Man 'O War we all decided to sail over to Guana Cay since Felix & Margrit haven't been to Nippers. Besides it was downwind.

Espresso put on quite a show going by everyone. That's when we saw that her sail was a lot bigger than the screechers we had up. That there is a BIG Code O and Rex could only watch Espresso sail on by.

More Man 'O War Cay

Man 'O War Cay

This is quite a cool little place. Pictures tell the story........

Ah....Sunday morning breakfast at Man 'O War Cay

Doesn't get much better then this...........

Espresso cruising along in light winds

Felix & Margrit's Melvest Marine F-32 moving along nicely on their way to Man 'O War Cay. The sail was only 7 miles so all of us were too lazy to put up the main. Besides we would have been there way too fast!

Hence the words........."Man we were sure going fast when you passed us!"

Lynyard Cay

This Cay (position N26.22.26 - W76.58.94) is only a few miles north of Little Harbor but the winds we good for a one night stop before heading back to Marsh Harbor for provisions and some other items needed. It's pretty desolate but the swimming is great. We did almost a 1/2 mile swim, snorkeling over to Espresso and back. After we got to their boat we realized it was much calmer further in so both Winged Impulse and GH moved closer to shore.

Dinner was on Rex & Reba's boat and then the next morning I took a little hike to take in the sights and snap a picture of all three boats sitting pretty.

Putting on the miles

After a night in Tahiti Beach we decided to do some sailing and also to be in a protected anchorage if & when the next front comes through. Basically one always needs to pay attention to the weather since many of the anchorages are not good for 360 degree protection. We've gotten pretty good at getting up at 6:30am to listen to Chris Parker's forecast since NOAA does not exist around here and the other forecasts don't seem as accurate.

So back to Little Harbor for a couple of nights after a snorkel trip at Sandy Cay. The "Blaster" at Pete's Pub seems to work rather well so sleeping was no problem. The next day we sailing up to Lynyard Cay to check that out. The picture shows Expresso & Winged Impulse heading out of Little Harbor.

Tahiti Beach

After a some nice sailing where we went from Marsh Harbor, to Treasure Cay, to Great Guana, we.... (Winged Impulse, Espresso & Grey Hound) decided to meet up at Tahiti Beach for a night. The winds were nice for most of the trip and what a beautiful spot to hang out for a day or two. The beach, as you can see is wonderful and the scenery is cool. There is a pub on Lubbers Quarter that will even provide cocktail delivery from across the channel! Doesn't get any better than that I'd say.

The next day the barge that was doing some delivery in front of us decided to go out right between all of us. He would definitely win so I was glad the tug captain was very good.

We are starting to see seafood in the Bahamas

Ok, I am finally NOT 0-3 years trolling for fish! This is our first one and a pretty good size Barracuda. Not willing to give up my lure I landed him on the net and finally yanked it out. Too big to eat (toxic sometimes) so he got another chance to live again.

Not so for the conch that Margrit found.......it was my second conch to practice on and we tried it with a conch salad. Only so-so in taste but we'll keep searching for free food down here! Once a hunter gatherer.....always one!!

Hockey......even in the Bahamas!

As we were anchored in Marsh Harbor we noticed a 34 foot Hunter next door to us named Breakaway. So.....we had to inquire as to the story.

Meet Gary Aldcorn, former Toronto Maple Leaf and Detroit Red Wings player for 6 season during the late 50's & 60's. He said he was traded to Detroit and got to play with Gordie Howe. Gary said his heart was going 90 mph when he sat down next to Gordie.

Great guy......having fun out of the snow and ice.

Marsh Harbor

After the storm we did finally make it to Marsh Harbor. It's a commercial port but in reality it's not too bad for boaters. The grocery store is the biggest we've seen and the restaurants are nice. Yesterday Espresso made it to town and today the four of us walked over to Mermaid Beach to snorkel on the reef. They feed the fish here so we saw lots of little fish, such as parrot fish, angels, Sargent majors, snappers, trigger fish and a whole bunch more. Our next purchase we will have to find an underwater camera!

Dodgers of the Storm!

After Barefoot Man our original plan was to go to Marsh Harbor to meet up friends. However......another front was coming through so like normal we run to where we can hide and keep GH safe. So......back to Treasure Key and into a nice small, secure harbor. This is 3pm in the afternoon.

In Marsh Harbor they had 50+ kts for a half hour. Glad we were not there!

Jim, this is for you!!!

Sorry you missed it but here is a taste........

We made it!!!! BAREFOOT MAN IS IN THE HOUSE!!!!

For most of the week it didn't look like the weather was going to cooperate with us and we would miss the one chance for the Barefoot Man concert at Nippers. But, the weather gods smiled on us and the winds changed early enough for us to make it to Fisher Bay on Saturday for the second day of the party.

After anchoring we decided to check out the joint in the day and were not disappointed with the weather, food and drink. We then went back to GH for a swim and then back to Nippers for the music, dinner, dancing and fun. We met some good friends there..... Windswept (Bob & Lisa), Sweet William (Bill, Laurie and cool kids) and Last Call (RL & Karen). Even had fireworks to end the night!!

Needless to say that Sunday was a layday.....

Finally.....we find another trimaran!

The vast majority of boats that we have seen are of course, monohulls. There are also many cats plying the waters and many are charter boats. We have seen very few trimarans and it seems strange to us since the waters around here are perfect for boats like GH. The depth is good in most places for the daggerboard to stay down and we have sailed 90% of the time when we move from place to place. To date we have used 2-3 gallons of gas for Grey Hound. Most of our petrol consumption goes to the generator.

The boat is Ron's. He does the Maine Cat charters out of Hope Town. He also takes care of the Lucky Strike moorings in the harbor. She is a Lock Crowther Twiggy.

Hope Town

Hope Town is one of the more colorful towns we've seen. Nobody would try these colors in upstate NY. Probably would get arrested if you tried anyways!!