Nassau, Bahamas to Normans Cay

Bob had us up bright and early on Christmas morning heading out the south entrance to the harbor toward Normans Cay by 6:30. He discovered that his GPS auto pilot was not working, but decided that he had probably knocked something loose while working on our blasted Internet booster (that hasn’t worked properly since the day we installed it), and decided we would do just fine following Carleigh and see if he can fix it when we drop anchor in Normans Cay later in the day. A couple of other sailboats and a trawler were headed south with us as well since we have a day of calm weather before the next “blow.”

You may remember from reading the blog in past years that the pattern is move and drop anchor in calm weather, then sit in a protected spot until the wind dies down for 2 to 5 days, and then move again in calm weather. That is the normal winter weather pattern.

We stayed at TPA Marina in Nassau during a short blow. It is a small marina, really built to house the toys, I mean boats of one individual on Nassau. This gentleman used to own a large portion of Kalik stock (one of the beers of the Bahamas, Sands being the other) and the marina houses a 150 foot mega-yacht called the Maratini X and all her tenders. We are always at the dock the Maratini X is on and it is great that it blocks the afternoon sun, but it also blocks the marinas Internet signal. Darn!

There is now a new Bertram sport fishing boat called the Maratini XII at the dock as well. She is a gorgeous new boat, only a month old and the best of the class. They only have about 3 slips or docks available for transients. The nice thing about the marina is that it is that it is closest to the bridges and a central location among all the docks. Once you have stayed there, Vince, the dock master, says you are “family” and treats you as such. (Maratini is a made-up name from the first two letters of the four children of the owner of these boats).

What I find interesting about Nassau is that all the stores throughout the island have metal grates and hire security officers to sit by the door to “buzz” you in. I can’t imagine that there is that much crime during business hours that require this much security.

I wonder if it is more a leftover of past times when there was more crime or more a measure of providing employment for security guards. Since guns are not allowed on the island, one wonders what value the guards really provide. I also wonder what percentage of the workforce is employed part or full time as security.

We arrived at Normans Cay just after lunch and anchored in shallow water close to shore. With only a 3 and half foot draft, we can anchor in as little water as about 5 feet mean low water letting us snuggle up to land. Carleigh decided to go to a marina at Highborne Cay nearby to wait out this blow.

 

The little "Postcard Perfect" is right off the anchorage at Normans Cay. We went shelling there the first day before we were stuck on the boat through the high winds.

We put the dinghy down and wandered around the anchorage to wish some of the other boaters a “Merry Christmas.” We met a German couple with their relatives aboard, a couple on Rhapsody that were friends with My Sharona and Independence that we know, and Volt and Sandy on Amber Isle that we have known the last three years.

I slept in Sunday morning and that felt good after being up early the day before. The winds have picked up and the 12 other boats in the anchorage, most of which are sailboats, jockeyed around the anchorage for a better, more protected spot from the wind. Amber Isle moved to anchor behind a small island for better protection.
Around 1 on Sunday, we had a call on the radio from Carleigh telling us that rain was on the way. It was already raining at Highborne. We could see it coming. The wind shifted slightly when the rain came, putting the island now clearly as protection for us. Bob decided to have his first “rain shower” for the year. With the temps being high 60’s or low 70’s, he said it was certainly “refreshing.” Winds are expected to be 30 mph or more today.

Bob decided to spend the night in the pilot house watching to make sure our anchor did not move. Clay, in Highborne Cay Marina said that a sailboat anchored outside that marina clocked winds at 35 knots, gusting to 45. I know the winds have certainly been howling around the boat and our wind generator is really putting out electricity! Winds should start to lay down late Monday and we should be able to move again on Tuesday.

I slept in till 9:30 on Tuesday, a real sleeping beauty. I think that was because the waves had calmed down and I really relaxed. We had a a call at 10 from Carleigh and they were getting underway at the marina north of our position. They were still north of us when we came out from behind Normans Cay, but could see them. We headed south to Staniel Cay skipping the Exuma Land and Sea Park for the present (but will come back north to it later). Our goal is to make Staniel Cay today so we will be there for the Pirate Party Wednesday night. Our favorite party of the year. We will catch up with My Sharona, Independence and Different Drummer, to name a few and our boating friends, and will also see Butch and Sarah, landlubbers on Staniel.

Temps were a little chilly in the wind on Tuesday, but expected to warm now that the storm has passed. Winds on the bank were around 10-15 with very minor waves for the trip south to Staniel. I hope we don’t have a storm quite that bad again for a while. It was the tail end of the storm that hit the east coast, so I’m sure all our friends at home don’t want to see one like that again either.

Since we were pretty much stuck on the boat for a couple of days, I didn't out to take any more photos.

Next stop Staniel Cay for the Pirate Party!

We made it!

When we first arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, we went to a marina in Hollywood, just south of Ft. Lauderdale, called Loggerhead where our friends Mac and Shirley off Cat’s Paw were staying. Shirley has been fighting cancer this past summer and we wanted to see her before we crossed. Bob had promised to make her a Thanksgiving dinner, but we were tied up in Palm Coast due to engine trouble, so we didn’t reach Loggerhead until after Thanksgiving.


Beautiful home across from our slip at Loggerhead Marina

We also heard from Donna and Toby, friends from a previous cruising year that live in Ft. Lauderdale and they joined us for our "Thank/Christmas" dinner. Great to catch up with them also.


Me, Rita-Kay, and Shirley


Toby and Donna


Bob getting ready to cut our turkey

We hope Shirley continues to heal and is able to cross, or fly over to visit us, this spring.

After spending several days with Mac and Shirley, we moved to a mooring field across from Las Olas Marina in Ft. Lauderdale. We spent two nights “on the hook” there watching the boats pass in the Intracoastal Waterway there. Bob needed a part, and I needed one last trip to a Chicos and a Fresh Produce (that is ladies clothing and not lettuce for you guys). So we decided to try their bus service. Bob took a different bus to West Marine and I waited for the bus to the Las Olas Blvd. shops.
Unfortunately, I discovered that if you do not lay down in front of buses in Ft. Lauderdale, they do not stop! So I started walking, and walking, and walking. It was a 2 -3 mile walk to the shops and I was pooped when I got there. Luckily, I found a couple of interesting items to purchase and was able to hail a bus to take me back to the docks. I haven’t walked that much in a long time and my feet are still screaming at me today.

We left the mooring field at las Olas Marina in Ft. Lauderdale around 6:30 on Tuesday the 21st heading to the Bahamas. Carleigh left their marina about the same time south of us and we met each other again this year at the entrance to the cut. Waves were a little higher than we like, but it was tolerable. I had Internet to 11 miles out so was able to send a few quick emails and post a message on Facebook and the blog that we had left.

 

Cruise ships in port in Ft. Lauderdale - some will beat us to Nassau.

 

Carleigh behind us leaving Ft. Lauderdale

When we hit the Gulf Stream, the water temp jumped from 79 to 82 degrees. Wish we could have gone in for a swim! That will have to wait until we reach the outer islands. We were expecting some wave action, so I secured all I thought needed to. We still had a plant fall over and an iron skillet hit the floor, but no serious damage. Opening the frig is always scary after being in waves like this. This time I was better prepared and made Bob bring all the coffee in a thermos to the pilot house and I made lunch and brought that in a thermos bag to the pilot house as well.

By the time we reached the inlet to the ocean in Ft. Lauderdale, the sun was just peeking up over the horizon. The sun bounced off the buildings of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami as we looked back and said goodbye to the states till late April or early May.

Fifty-two days after leaving home port, we finally spot Bahamian land. We spotted the island of Bimini around noon with binoculars and passed it around 12:30. Checking on Carleigh, they were about a mile and half behind us. I took a nap on the love seat in the salon for an hour in the morning. When I got up, we had our “picnic” lunch in the pilot house.

Bob said he spotted a couple of whales to port while I was sleeping. Listening to boats that were fishing, Bob heard that one spotted a wood hatch cover floating in the water. Every time they trolled past it they caught a Mahi. We also heard reports of King Fish being caught on the radio. The year we fished coming back across, there was a lot of floating seaweed and we caught our Mahi when we passed through that. We are not seeing any floating seaweed on this trip.

Some cruisers stop at Bimini to check in and spend the night. We did that our first year, but the Captain has always been anxious to move on farther south and we haven’t stopped here since. Ernest Hemmingway spent a lot of time on this island, as do other sport fisherman. Another island that attracts the Sport Fishing crowd is Chub Cay. The marina there was built specifically for that group of folks and at a price to match!

 

Island of Bimini

For those of you unfamiliar with the Bahamas, there are significant areas of shallow water, called the Grand Bahama Bank and the Little Bahama Bank. These vast tablelands of shallow water have a great influence on the tides and currents, marine life, etc. We encounter the Great Bahama Bank just before we reach Bimini. Being shallow, (15-18 feet deep) the waves subsided greatly to almost barely a cradle rock. We pull off the track a mile or two at night and anchor for the night on the bank. It is an experience you never forget. It is just your anchor light and maybe one or two others – tonight we will be in sight of Carleigh’s anchor light, and a soft glow off in the horizon that is Miami, FL. We set our anchor alarm to awake us if we start to drift during the night and enjoy a truly quiet and peaceful night – as long as you pick a night with low winds. We open a bottle of Champagne and sit on top the boat to celebrate a safe crossing.

I have to say the first time we anchored for this night on the banks, I was really unnerved. I was too used to being tied to a dock, or in a protected anchorage. There are no signs that say “anchorage here,” you just have to be able to read the charts to know where to anchor. To know your anchor is set, we usually pick a spot on the shoreline and watch to see if that spot moves to know if you have a set anchor. Since there is no shoreline to use as a gauge, we have to trust the GPS anchor alarm to let us know if we set it ok or not.

On the leg between our stop tonight and Nassau, we will cross what is known as “the Tongue of the Ocean.” This is a body of water that is deeper and actually part of the Atlantic that we will encounter from the Northwest Channel Light to Nassau. As a result, although it is calm on the bank, we could encounter rougher water on the tongue tomorrow.

Once on the bank, we began to spot seaweed and also saw Ballyhoo jumping out of the water in front of the boat. The sky cleared some this afternoon to an almost totally clear sky. Temps feel like they are in the mid-70’s.
WE have a slightly hazy, but cloudless sunset, then at 6 PM, while we still had a glow in the sky from the sunset behind us, we watched a moonrise to Northeast. What a sight out in this lonely place.

Day two, we are up early at 6 and underway by 6:45 with the destination being Nassau for check-in to customs and immigration. Other cruisers this year are reporting that they do not get the normal number of days this winter from immigration. We have always been given what we ask for – 180 days, but some are saying they are only getting 30 days. Just what the reason for this change is we do not know.
Bob discovered that our anchor light was not working, so now he has a repair to make in Nassau. We improvised last night by leaving our underway lights on. Oh what a beautiful morning it was. There were no clouds except for some to the West that I swore looked like islands, but Bob said if they were they had risen from the sea bed since our charts were made!

The water was so clear and calm; I could see that our anchor was running off the starboard side toward aft. Bob swung the boat around so the chain was off the bow making is easier for the windlass to pull in.
We headed south into a little fog making the horizon difficult to see, if just blended into the sky, all aqua. We saw this phenomenon once in the Chesapeake Bay two days after Isabelle. Just beautiful. It did not last long as the sun rose and once again defined the water from the sky.

We decided to forgo our usual bottle of champagne on the banks and save it to share it with our cruising buddies, Clay and Rita-Kay, once we make Nassau.
Clay called us at 6:15 to make sure we were up and getting underway. I enjoyed watching the sunrise – something I don’t often see as I’m a late sleeper! In the morning we could see the other boats anchored at a distance in the sunlight that were just a twinkle of an anchor light when we got in last night.


Sunrise on the Bahama Bank. What looks like an island in the distance is just a layer of clouds on the horizon.

While chatting on the radio with Clay while we were passing Chub Cay, we heard from our friends on Alexia, William and Frances. We met them last year. They are cruisers from Great Britain. They were anchored by Chub Cay with friends aboard at present. We will see them again in the Exumas later. It is always fun catching up with our friends along the way and making new friends.

About 11:00 in the morning, we began to see the buildings of Atlantis on the horizon. These buildings sit on Paradise Island overlooking the harbor and Nassau proper. This provides a great natural harbor for the islands. Two on-way bridges connect the two islands. Nassau, like any large city in the US, is dirty, with high crime rates, so we try not to stay in Nassau any length of time. Weather will determine how long we stay in Nassau. This is our stop to check into customs and immigration, purchase rum for the season, provision, and for me to shop the straw market and purchase knock-off purses for all the females in the family.

 

Atlantis from the harbor

 

Nassau Harbor Lighthouse

 

Carleigh passing the cruise ships in Nassau Harbor

 

Carleigh with Oasis of the Sea cruise ship. This is the newest ship coming to the Bahamas. It really looks top heavy and like the rooms are hung overboard! It also dwarfs the other ships. They extended the cruise ship dock to the point that there is very little harbor left to pass through. I think this is the maximum number of ships they could have in Nassau at one time.

 

Norwegian Sky Cruise ship in port. I really love the paint job on this one.

There is no natural water source on Nassau, so they provide water by reverse osmosis and via a large tanker that runs several times a week from the island of Andros where there is a natural spring. The Chinese are currently negotiating the equivalent of another Atlantis-type development on the island. I don’t know how traffic will move at all when that happens. Cars just seem to be brought to the island in numbers greater than those leaving – it can only hold so many.

Cruise ships frequent the harbor as well. If you have taken one of these cruises with your destination Nassau, then you really have not seen the Bahamas. As far as we are concerned, the out-islands are the best cruising grounds. If you want to experience an out-island, let us know and we can direct you to them. Some cruise lines own an island in the Bahamas and take the cruise there in lieu of coming to Nassau - take one of those if you want the cruise ship experience.

We arrived into Nassau around 3 in the afternoon and were checked through Customs and Immigration by 3. We were given 180 days! We had heard that some boats crossing over had only been given 30 days and were worried that would happen to us. Apparently the issue was due to the combination of immigration and customs into one organization. The agent said she had been told to only give 30 days, but that has now changed.

 

Carleigh in front of us entering Nassau harbor with 5 cruise ships in port.

 

Closeup of the Oasis of the Sea cruise ship

Rita-Kay and I went shopping at the straw market and then we met up with Bob and Clay and had dinner at a Japanese Sushi restaurant across the street from the marina. It was great Sushi, some of the best we have had. It was also encouraging to see Bahamians, who have access to some great fish, beginning to like sushi. We have found that Bahamians in the out-islands really do not like sushi and turn their nose up at the thought of it!

 

The Nassau Straw Market

Bob and Clay checked the weather and decided that our next opportunity to leave Nassau looks like it will be Christmas day on Saturday. So Rita-Kay and I will go shopping the next two days! Our next stop will be Norman's Cay. I do not expect to have Internet again until we reach the Exuma Land and Sea Park.


Our Christmas Tree and Parrot dressed up for Christmas

Finally Underway!

Quick post before I lose the Internet signal. Watching the Miami skyline fade away with my Internet signal. Carleigh is traveling with us. Will post again in Nassau, hopefully tomorrow, with news of our arrival in the Bahamas - Yeah!

We expect to cross!

Just a quick note that we had a great visit with Mac and Shirley and a chance to reconnect with Rita-Kay and Clay as well and we now find ourselves with a short window to cross. We plan to stick our nose out the inlet tomorrow morning and see if it is calm enough to make a crossing. If so, you'll have to wait for photos until we get to Nassau! Merry Christmas to all if I don't get to post before Christmas.

Titusville, FL to Hollywood, FL

Lighthouse along the way

When I awoke on Saturday at the anchorage in Titusville, I realized that Bob had let me sleep in and it was almost 9 O'clock. I quickly got up and dressed and when I walked into the salon, I realized why he was in no hurry to move. We were in such dense fog, we could barely see the other boats closest to us. The fog lifted enough by 10:30, that we could get underway. Luckily, by noon, we had sun and a warm pilot house for the rest of the day.

On our way to Titusville, we passed a huge fire in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. Apparently it was a set fire according to the bridge tender at the Haulover Canal bridge. It made for a smoky trip and we smelled smoke all the way to the anchorage in Titusville where we stopped for the night.


Fire in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge


Near the fire area we went through a huge flock of birds - reminded us of the the old Hitchcock movie. We think the birds had been driven out to the water of the ICW from the fire.


Bob's favorite sight - the Indian River Nuclear Power Plant

We passed through the Titusville swing bridge in the morning for what will probably be the last time as it is being replaced by a high bridge that looks almost done. This is a bridge that goes to Cape Canaveral, and I'm sure the employees of NASA are quite happy about this improvement - as are the boaters. This bridge did not open during rush hours in the morning and afternoon, leaving boaters to make circles in the water while they waited. It was too bad that we were not in Titusville during the last launch from the cape - at least we could see it where we were in Palm Coast.

The ICW south of Titusville is very wide. Shortly before Vero Beach, the topography changes to a more narrow canal with mangrove islands on the West and gorgeous homes on the East side of the ICW. I think they should change the name of this city to Beautiful Homes City from Vero Beach!

We me up with Dee and Ed on Sea Fox X at Vero Beach. Their boat was getting an unexpected new engine in Ft. Pierce where they store their boat in the winter. As they are from Canada, they drive down from Canada and have their car at the marina, so were able to drive over and spend some time with us. We had planned to leave on Monday, but the winds were too high and would have made the ICW a little too rough, so we stayed at Vero Beach another day. Dee came and picked me up and we went to see a jewelry-making store that she had found in Ft. Pierce, but unfortunately it was closed on Monday, so we had lunch and went to a Michael's and Walmart instead.

We left on Tuesday and had a nice uneventful, but pleasant cruise to the anchorage in Lake Worth. Since Dee and Ed had taken us to groceries in Vero, we had no need to go ashore. We were up and underway early the next morning so we could reach Hollywood before dark. We passed through Ft. Lauderdale and the Las Olas Marina where we knew our friends on My Sharona were docked, so we hailed them and talked shortly. They had been thinking we would make it in time to cross with them to the Bahamas, but we wanted to spend time with Shirley and Mac in Hollywood before crossing, so they took advantage of a crossing window on Thursday and we will probably cross this Tuesday with Clay and Rita-Kay on Carleigh.

Shirley has been fighting an illness all summer and at this point it isn't clear if she will make it over to the Bahamas this winter, so we plan to have a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner on the boat with them on Friday.


We spotted our sister ship right off the ICW in Ft. Lauderdale. It is currently on the market. It is a 54 foot Crosswater and a real beauty inside too.


Here is full side view.


One of a thousand huge gorgeous homes along the ICW.


Another gigantic home - you have to wonder how many people live in the homes - do they rent out room?


Two pretty large yachts passing in the ICW in front of us.


Add this to the "you never know what you are going to see in the ICW" file. This huge yacht had a toy garage in the side of the ship. We see them all the time in the stern, or on deck, but this was a first.


One of the cruise ships in the Ft. Lauderdale port.



Sunset in Vero Beach

Palm Coast, FL to Titusville, FL

Well, two days short of a month later, we are finally underway again on a rainy day. Could be worse, could be a rainy day stuck at a dock!

Thanks to the hospitality of the marina staff and other cruisers at Palm Coast Marina, we had an enjoyable stay. A special thanks to Sandy and Peter on Bewitched who lent us their car on numerous occasions so we could take care of our shopping needs.

Our mechanic Al, and Rob, our diver and his crew handled the removal and re-install of our shaft and prop. I was impressed at how they handled this task while the boat was in the water, given that removal of the shaft leaves a nice hole below the waterline. I was still very nervous when the plugs came out that we would not have the starboard side sink. It was a very careful job and they handled it great. We highly recommend Al's Marine Service if you have mechanical trouble in north Florida along .

Our friends Gigi and Vic on Gigi's Island left us after a couple of weeks at the marina, along with Vicky and Buck on Victoria Rose. We will catch up with them later.


Gigi on Gigi's Island


Vicky on Victoria Rose

Here are some photos I took while we were at the marina the last month. The first group are of the Christmas Boat Parade in Palm Coast. We sat on top the boat and were able to get really good photos of the boats that came up beside ours in the canal off the ICW. There were a good 25 boats in this parade.









We had quite a bit of wildlife sharing the canal. We saw many porpoises feeding in the canal, a resident Blue Heron, many pelicans, and at night we often heard an owl.


Pelicans enjoying the dock on the other side of the canal.


Porpoise in the canal


Research vessel that came to the marina for fuel.

While we were in Palm Coast, NASA launched a Space X unmanned rocket and I was able to get this shot of it from the marina.


Space X launch from Cape Canaveral

Since West was up the canal, obtaining sunset photos was bit tricky. This was a nice one though.


Good Night

Tonight we anchor out in Titusville, then on to Vero Beach for a day or two, reaching Ft. Lauderdale in 4 or 5 days. We will spend a few days there visiting Mac and Shirley on Cat's Paw, and catching up with Victoria Rose, Gigi's Island and Carleigh. When there is a good weather window, we will cross to the Bahamas.