The Berrys ... Grand Bahama Island ... Back to Florida
After waiting several days of 25k of east wind to settle down anchored off Bullock Harbor, we left impressed with this prosperous little town. They have a great grocery store, well stocked and priced liquor store, easy access by foot, and by far the best church service we have attended in the Bahamas. Still 2 hrs long, but very sincere and warm. For example, those Catholics among you know about the "peace be with you and also with you" part of the service where you greet your neighbor. However, in this church, every church member left their seat and hugged every other member. It was a joyous 15 minutes of greeting in the middle of the service. I loved it.
Well stocked now, we were off exploring the many cays in the Berrys for the next week before heading north.
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| Ocean on the right. |
Our first stop was White Cay, which looked like a good place to explore the Little Bahama bank by dinghy. A beautiful little anchorage behind a small cay. We had the place to ourselves. Maybe stay a few days.
However, after one night there, we had a much better idea of what they meant in the guide book description that the anchorage was "prone to surge". How bad can surge be you may ask? Well, it's rather insidious in that it creeps up on you, with the tide. When we anchored at 3 pm, on a falling tide, water was calm and life was good. Throughout dinner, we noticed a mild side-to-side rocking of the boat in addition to the usual front-to-back rocking on the anchor. No big deal. But it did make you wonder if that is what surge is like. But, light winds were predicted, so we weren't worried. Not until we went to bed. About the time the tide changed.
White Cay offered easy access from the ocean to an anchorage that is open on both ends which allowed the incoming swells from the deep ocean to wrap around White Cay and enter the anchorage. Where they proceeded to rock the hell out of the boat, especially when the tide came in. 6 hours .... we would have 15 seconds of severe side-to-side rocking (I counted!) followed by 4 seconds of gentle bobbing at anchor that we are used to. Yuck!
It was one of those nights where morning counted come soon enough, but at least we did have settled weather on our side.
It was a beautiful spot for shore walking, hiking and exploring the shallow banks to the west by dinghy. However, don't want to sleep here again so that means moving. And that means poring over maps, looking for more protected anchorages. Unfortunately, the best choices could only be reached at high tide and the clock was ticking. Playing the tides is a common thing in the Bahamas, and it sucks the most when you are left with a small window of time to make your move, considering that the anchorages we are looking at are10 -12 miles away, 3 hrs by sail.
Throw in changing weather in the forecast and you really get a feel of what life is like on the boat. We think we want to go someplace. We plan to go someplace. We get someplace and it's not what we expected. We have to leave that place because conditions change.
What to do, what to do.
Our plan was to move south along the coast of the Berrys to the southern tip before heading north. But the southern wind did not last and the forecast is for prolonged strong north winds which we would head into on our next crossing to Grand Bahama Island (along the with large swells that accompany the north wind). Been there. Done that. Not fun. So we decide to take advantage of the last days of southerly wind and head north, 65 miles to Grand Bahama Island. Goodbye Berrys, we'll have to come back.....
Off we went. A beautiful 10 hr sail, with 4ft swells off our stern quarter that gave us quite a nice push, sometimes over 8 knots! All day, under clear skies, we watched the cloud banks gather to the west. Signs that the predicted squalls were on their way.
Besides the great sailing, the highlight of the trip was also landing our first fish ... a lovely Mahi. We snagged this bad boy 7 miles from shore, just after dousing all sails, which made it much easier to slow down and direct the boat in the best position for Dan to reel the fish in and get it safely on board. Thankfully, we are headed towards a marina in Lucaya/Freeport where we can clean it on shore instead of the boat ... and ice would be plentiful so we could fill our Yeti cooler and keep this fortune of good food frozen.
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| Predicted storm is approaching |
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| Lucaya was the first place we saw extensive damage from Hurricane Matthew. |
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| Harrowing entrance to marina. Full of huge boulders and trees from the Hurricane. |
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| We had the dock to ourselves! |
Best part!
Back to Florida
Lucaya did not have the attraction we were expecting (besides the pool and free ice!). Quite urban. No beaches. So after a few days we got the itch to move. We have never been to West End, another uber popular place for cruisers, so we wanted to check it out.
Opps. Did I fail to mention that the West End Marina charges $3/foot? After learning that, we decided to check out anchorages instead for future reference.
And then we got the proverbial weather window along with a full moon so we decided to scoot the 55 miles over to Lake Worth on May 9th. Not bad leaving at 3 am and being a anchor by 3pm!
Glassy calm seas. We had hoped to motor sail.
Hey Florida ... got humidity?
Our first night back in the USA. Lake Worth.
May 10.
We were up early and ready to weigh anchor and get moving. It was gonna be a hot day so best to be on the open ocean. We were headed to the Ponce Inlet, Daytona Beach, an overnight sail.
Light winds. But beautiful day,
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| Our last sunset at sea for the season. |
May 11.
We arrived at the Rock Creek anchorage around 9am and enjoyed a good long nap on a hot but quiet day. From there, we continued north on the ICW with stops in St Augustine and Jacksonville and finally our destination, Green Cove Springs Marina.
We have been debating for months where to leave the boat when we go back to MN for the June wedding. Ortega Landing Marina for a short summer in MN and then back aboard?? Or Brunswick Landing Marina and then head up the East Coast??? Or something else ... in the form of Michelle and Craig relocating to Germany for the next 2 years! Arggggg. No pressure there to want to return to Europe for extended time with our grandson, not to mention all that glorious travelling!
So, we settled on GCSM with plans for a 3 month Europe trip this September. Back on board by Christmas!
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| Proud Minnesotan! |
May 17. Haul out.
Good to be on land. Good to have a car. Good to have a long hot shower. But, ohhhh, the Florida heat and humidity. So much for our theory to be out of the state by June 1. We thought it would take 3 days to prep the boat for long term storage, and I attribute it to the heat that it took us 5 days to get on the road. By then, we had a full-blown case of grandbaby itch! Kansas City here we come!
