March 2017 - Jim on board

Crossing #5 to the Bahamas .... aka. a month with Jim on board.

Back on the boat January 25 in Green Cove Springs, with the usual list of boat maintenance projects (engine inspection, transmission work, boat wax, varnish, etc. etc). The good news was the prop shaft did not need to be replaced and the weather was unseasonably warm so we could workworkwork every day!

17 days later we were ready to launch. Exactly 47 days until James and Alma once again express their faith in us with plans to spend their Spring Break in the Bahamas!  This time, they booked an AirBnB house in Hopetown to share with another couple (yeah, a little insurance never hurts!), but we promised them we would make the Abacos by April 2.

Underway to Jacksonville.

However, based on past experience, we were not going to dilly-dally our way down the coast of FL. We started moving right away ... Feb. 18 into Jacksonville where we waited 3 days for a weather window to go offshore that never materialized, so we took to the ICW.  St. Augustine - Daytona Beach - Cocoa Beach -Vero Beach - Hobe Sound - North Palm Beach Marina. The boat is running great, and for the first time we were making 60nm in a day.  A long day, mind you, but being able to sustain 6.5+knots w/o overheating makes a huge difference.

We arrived at the North Palm Beach Marina on Feb 27. And Jim arrived on Feb 28! It sure is nice to have retired friends, who like the boating life, and who are spontaneous as hell!  The plan was to cross on March 1st, catching one of the last good weather windows to the Bahamas in the next few weeks (just our luck that a winter full of good crossing days was followed by a Spring with few crossing days in the forecast!).

To go ... or not to go.  It' one of the worst parts of cruising. The debate. The uncertainty. The endless repeated discussions about weather.  BAH!  In the end, we decided to wait. Had we crossed on the first, we would have a 5-day front on our heels, that would either overtake us in route (very bad) or keep us trapped in a marina north of the Whale Cay Passage for 5+ days (not great, but at least we are in the Bahamas).  Since we'd be waiting one place or the other, we opted to wait in Palm Beach, where we have a car and access to everything we could need to provision and finish up boat projects.

We crossed on March 9th. An absolutely beautiful day. No wind but flat seas, and we made record time to Great Sale Cay in 16 hrs. Wind for sailing would have been nice. But no complaints.

Arriving on the Bahama banks from the ocean is always a marvel. The depth goes from a couple thousand feet to 20 feet ... the the color changes from a deep dark beautiful blue to the aquamarine everyone loves.

Full Moon Crossing.  Ahhhh.....

We cleared Customs at Spanish Cay and then spent 5 days poking around the many lovely anchorages north of the Whale Cay Channel.

Crossing Whale Cay gets about as much talk and attention as the crossing from FL. Under the wrong conditions, it can be miserable, even deadly. To get to the protected Sea of Abaco, you basically have to cross thru the Whale to the Atlantic Ocean, pass the Cay, and then enter another cut leading to the Sea of Abaco.  As soon as the weather and seas settle, the talk on the VHF radio is all about the Whale. Who has crossed it? Who is waiting? What are your opinions?

We decided to sail up to the cut and check out the wave conditions.  We had just turned around when another boat announced that they had cleared the cut with 4 ft swells but no breakers.  Good enough for us.  Turn around again and head for it.  Not exactly a smooth passage, but nice to be on the other side.  Just in time to anchor at Great Guana Cay and catch the Barefoot Man Concert (an annual event; the Bahama's version of Jimmy Buffet!).

Sailing with autopilot leaves hands free for reading!

Next up was Hopetown followed by Treasure Cay .... two of our favorite places in the Abacos, albeit crowded this time to year. But Jim appears to be our good luck charm as we were able to snag a mooring at each place and the weather was perfect.  Nary a day of not doing what we want because of rain or squalls.

Everyone recognizes Hopetown by the lighthouse. It is the last, kerosene-powered, manually operated lighthouse in the world.

Just so you know, cruising the Bahamas is not all about sailing, sunsets and pina coladas.  We also do a lot of beach walking.  Seems we tend to be driven to see "what's around the next corner" only to find another stretch of beautiful beach and another corner in the distance to wonder about....

But don't get me wrong, we do sample pina coladas at most bars we encounter.   Highly recommend the Hope Town Lodge ....

Our last island to visit with Jim was Treasure Cay and the sailing there and back was great.  Usually, the wind direction does not cooperate with the direction we want to go ... but like I said, Jim was good luck throughout this trip!

Treasure Cay ... one of the 10 most beautiful beaches in the world. And yes, their pina coladas don't disappoint either!

As Jim just two days from departure back to FL, it was time to go swimming.

End of the line with Jim. Back to Marsh Harbour where squalls and high winds were predicted the morning of Jim's departure, so he treated us to several nights at the marina.  Ahh. Hot Showers.

Ahh. Good friends who come visit us on s/v Maja.

Life doesn't get any better.