On to Hopetown via Great Guana Cay

We left Green Turtle Cay around 2:30 p.m. to go thru the Whale. This passage can be challenging, but the journey to and after proved to be rough. The Whale was the easy transit. Wind and waves crashed into us, giving us a salt bath. I gave up on my glasses as I could see better without them. We made it to Fishers Bay, Great Guana, in 3 hours. Set the anchor and waited for the wind to die down. Right. Rock and roll doesn't begin to describe that night. The wind shifted more out of the South and neither one of us got a good night's sleep.

Next morning we headed out around 11:30 to go to Hopetown. Carolina Moon wanted to get there around high tide due to their draft. We got roughed up again til we got into the lee of Elbow Cay. Entering we saw nothing shallower than 6 1/2 ft.

We entered the mooring field and picked up one from Truman and Lucky Strike. Finally we were able to relax and unwind.
We sat down to a crock pot meal of spaghetti with chicken, and then proceeded to sleep for 12 hours!

Next post will cover the Hopetown experience!

Mini lizard house

Green Turtle Cay and New Plymouth

1. We spent several days trying to track down coconut bread, but no such luck. Will try again  next trip. So we hung out at the club, catching up on laundry and sampling the rum punches. 

The men securing the dinghies

2 Shortys for lunch on Tuesday

We went to 2 Shorty's for lunch. Cracked conch for me (of course!) and fried chicken and peas and rice for Elden.  The next day we walked the mile and a half to town and found the elusive coconut bread! I purchased 2 loaves, and a cinnamon bun for Mike and picked up the one I had ordered at Sid's on Tuesday. Bejay was happy! Nothing tastes better than fresh bread, unless it's fresh coconut bread!

We plan on leaving here on Friday if the Whale pass cooperates.

Bahamas, Here we come!

I decided that I would post the other repairs at a later date and concentrate on the trip instead.

We left Fort Pierce on 3/13 heading to Palm Beach Gardens Loggerhead for fuel and catch up with Carolina Moon and the Grackins. We anchored just north in Hobe Sound for the night with some wind, but a lot more boat traffic. Weekenders! On 3/14 we went to PBG Loggerhead were we met up with Mike & Bejay. Fueled up, we set off for Lake Worth anchorage. I need to mention that the Palm Beach boat show was coming up and the idiot boat brokers were out in full force tearing up the ICW again. But we made it to the anchorage to rest and get ready to cross on Tuesday night.

Sunset over Florida 

Carolina Moon in the lead

The crossing started out ok as we headed south a bit to catch the Gulf Stream to West End. Wind wasn't too bad, but the waves started hitting us broadside and I managed to get sick. Dry heaves are not fun in the middle of the night. Bejay even started feeling queasy watching us. They want to change the name of our boat to Tick Tock, we were swinging so bad! Poor Elden got stuck at the helm for 7 hours. Even Sturgeron didn't help.

But with dawn came relief and West End. We arrived around 7:45 am to find the Customs and fuel dock open(normally 9am) due to a lot of fishing boats heading out. Talk about a tight fit! Only bumped the dock with the bow once as we squeezed in between a sport fisher and another sailboat. So after checking in (managed to pay the lesser fee of $150) and Carolina Moon fueled up, we headed to Mangrove Cay to catch up on some well earned rest.

Sunrise at West End

Sailing to Great Sail Cay with Carolina Moon

We rafted up with Carolina Moon at Great Sail Cay and enjoyed chips & salsa and a pasta dinner with CM. Mike's grandson, Jonathan, is on board as "crew".  Friday 3/18 we made it to Powell Cay but the winds were not favorable to anchoring there. So Cooperstown was the stop for what we thought was one day, but wound up for two. Then the fickle winds changed direction and Powell Cay became our anchorage for several more days. Elden, Mike & Jonathan went ashore after the winds settled a bit. Elden found two sea biscuits and an anemone shell for me.

Sunrise at Powell Cay

We stayed three days at Powell Cay watching the weather and waiting for a slip at Leeward Yacht Club. Mike is the weather guru, and we checked Bahamas Radio for our weather info.  Cruiser Net is still too far to get any information. On Thursday we moved to Green Turtle Cay to anchor till high tide. We would not have a problem, but Carolina Moon draws 5 ft. Good Friday found us tied up at Leeward for a week. Good protection and not over developed, But someone managed to cut the cable for internet. Thus the long silence from us. Seems it was cut by a propeller or anchor, but rumors abounded. WiFi finally fixed  by Saturday. Leeward is a good marina to wait for a window to cross the Whale Passage.

We put the outboard on our dinghy and discovered that the mechanic who gave it the annual maintenance failed to tell us that the gas tank neck was cracked and needed replaced. So we tried to fix it, but nothing worked but duct tape. We just need to not overfill the tank and take it easy. Yippee, another fix when we get back!

The trip to New Plymouth on Friday was great. We went in to walk around and had lunch at McIntosh's. Cracked conch was the only choice! Even Elden agreed that it was good. Now to find coconut bread. Seems it sells faster than anything here. The stores were open, and well stocked as the cargo ship came in on Friday. But I draw the line at $10.00 for a pack of Oreos! British cookies are just as good and less expensive. The government imposed a VAT tax of 7.5% on everything. So we'll only buy what we really need at Marsh Harbor when we get there.

Cracked Conch platter w/ peas & rice

Loyalist Memorial in New Plymouth

We got back to the boats to rest and catch up and found internet down again. Seems it was just a patch to get it through the weekend.  It's up and running now, but slow when everyone is on. Laundry was a priority, but at $4.00 a load and $4.00 a dryer, necessities were done first.  Water is .20 a gallon, so we still conserve on board.

Next post will cover more adventures on Green Turtle Cay.

Till then have a great week!

Susan & Elden
S/V Soteria

To the Bahamas again...of course after MORE REPAIRS!!!

It has been a looonnngggg two years since my last post. A lot has happened and I will try to describe the events.  My last post described the issues with the fuel goobers. Suffice to say, a through clenaing of the tank and the addition of a fuel gauge solved that problem.

Then there was the medical issue I had. A minor operation, but no insurance, caused the credit card to blossom a bit. So, a part time job was obtained to pay the piper, so to speak. And then the drama continued as Loggerhead Marina in Stuart was forced by the city to evict those of us who lived onboard. So a car was purchased, and we moved to Harbortown Marina in Ft. Pierce. A much friendlier place that loves full time cruisers.

That put us off from the Bahamas two years, paying off the bills of the credit card and car. I was able to get better hours to expedite and pay off all early. It was a happy sad day when I "retired" a second time from The Salvation Army. I miss those friends but do not miss the 45 minute drive one way!

We set out to get what we thought was a minor things for Soteria, stripping off the old bottom paint and applying new. And more surprises awaited us after we got to the gel coat: Bondo putty covering a crack in the keel, under the barrier coat, the prop strut was improperly secured, two cracks in the rudder and a stuffing boz that would not come undone! So we had Cracker Boy Boat Works repair the cracks properly with fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin, then they started the bottom painting. Whitacar took care of the stuffing box and strut, but had to get a new prop shaft made because ours was damaged by the improperly installed stuffing box. Instead of 6-7 days in the yard, we spent 3 weeks. Sheesh! At least they let us stay on the boat while the work was being done.

We kept busy installing an anchor windlass on the bow and doing what we could to help the process along.

Here are some photos of what went on:

Tent for old paint removal

Bondo (Car putty)

Cracked keel

Cracked rudder

Dario from Whitacar doing his magic

Finished keel repair and barrier coat

Finished rudder

Bottom paint completed!

Next post I will show the stuffing box and strut mess they found.

Til then have a great Easter week!

Susan & Elden
S/V Soteria

Another year, another journey...or not!

Hi all! It's been a while since our last post detailing our journeys.  It has been a quiet summer here in Stuart, dimmed by the loss of a fellow boater. Life on the docks will not be the same with out Jen, but life goes on.

 Summertime in Florida is warm, but tempered by the daily sea breeze.Plans were to head to the Bahamas again this year, but we discovered plans are not what sailors have! Things have a way of really messing with them, as we found out this past week.

We left Lake Worth inlet around 5 pm, Mar. 10, with Carolina Moon (Mike & Bejay Grackin & grandson Zseth) expecting a bouncy ride at first. All was as predicted and I went below and heard chain rattling. The the anchor decided to break loose around 7:30-ish: 100 ft. of chain and 150 ft of rode were hanging off the bow in 3-4 ft seas and 15-17 kt. winds. Elden went forward and I had the helm. It took 3 hours in bouncy seas to haul the anchor and rode up using the winches in the cockpit. Several other lines, hooks and sore muscles later, we decide to continue on to the Bahamas. It was around 10:30 pm. Carolina Moon stuck with us the whole time, circling around. Bejay said there were times she thought we were going to broach it was so rough, but Soteria held up fine. Better than us as we were extremely tired and overdosed with adrenaline .

Then the mainsail decided to get stuck halfway up. Elden sat on the dinghy and managed to straighten out the mess. Seems the double reef line was the cause.

Finally we thought we were on our way, but then the engine decided to quit around midnight. We tried sailing, but due to the winds direction we were unable to tack using only the jib, We decided to call TowboatUS and head back to Lake Worth. They were responding when we tried to start the engine, which started running again. But wisdom prevailed and we asked TowboatUS to escort us in. Good thing as the engine quit just outside the three mile limit. The towboat tied on and towed us to our previous anchorage in Lake Worth were we rafted up with Carolina Moon at 3:30 am. By 4 am we were all zonked out, and didn't get up till late.

That morning (Tuesday) we called Loggerhead Stuart, our home marina, and made reciprocity arrangements with Loggerhead Palm Beach Gardens for a slip and American Marine Tech, Inc. to have a mechanic work on the engine. TowboatUS was called again to tow us to the marina. Gotta love unlimited towing insurance! We were able to get through the bridges on demand, instead of waiting for their opening times! Carolina Moon even benefited from that!

The mechanic couldn't come till Wednesday. He spent 2 1/2 hours searching and cleaning the fuel system. He was able to clean out the lines and pump and get the engine running.  Diagnosis: dirt in lines from rough bouncing and we had and an old, tired fuel pump, Tried to find one, but Yanmar said our engine is "obsolete" and no parts are being made or kept for it. That was the bad news. Good news is that our fuel pump can be rebuilt! So Shearwater Marine in Stuart is going to help out with that project.

Now our intentions are to go back to Lake Worth anchorage with Carolina Moon for a few more days, visit the Palm Beach boat show and head back to Stuart. Then the fuel pump project begins.

We can never express enough appreciation to Mike and Bejay for sticking with us the whole time and changing their plans. True boating buddies like them are hard to find, and we are very thankful they are our friends!

Finally! We're in the Bahamas!

At last we have made it t the Bahamas! After major repairs and other stuff, we were able to realize a big part of our dream. I will be posting photos and more stories as we finally have internet after 8 days of nothing, not even cell phones!. Traveling with Mike & BeJay Grackin on Carolina Moon, has been a great experience.
At Lake Worth, FL, we hooked up with Dan Shaffner on Lydia Grace, and crossed the Gulf Stream on the evening of March 19, entering West End, Bahamas after a calm and quiet night. After checking in, we headed to Mangrove Cay ( pronounced "key") for a well deserved rest.

Entering West End, Bahamas with Carolina Moon

We anchored on the east side as west winds were forecast. There was a thunderstorm that passed by, but the little island did give us dome protection. From there we headed to Great Sale Cay, were we rafted up with Carolina Moon for a dinner of burgers, green beans and taters. Mike grilled and I had the solar oven cook the beans and taters.

Great Sale Cay sunset

The sunset on Great Sale was gorgeous, forecasting another great day ahead. We left Great Sale for Powell Cay and a three day rest. We were able to get ashore to look for shells, sand dollars and sea biscuits. Found a few, but we were the third party on land that day. On the evening of the second day, the weather took a turn with West winds. Powell Cay is open to the west and we had a rough time staying at anchor.  Not unsafe, but really uncomfortable. We finally moved across the sea to Coopers Town for better protection after having the anchor drag three times. It was much better. However, the next day the winds turned NNW and it got a little rough again. We weren't really dragging, but to play it safe, we added the other anchor rode & chain to give us more scope. It worked great. So great that when we left there today, we had a hard time getting it to release. You can see the waves from the wind in the photo.

Coopers Town, Grans Abaco Island

From Coopers Town, we left at 6 am to get to Green Turtle Cay at high tide. We are now in a slip with internet and protection from the North winds forcast today and tomorrow. Weather permitting, we head to Great Guana Cay, having to pass through "The Whale", the passage leading to Marsh Harbor, Treasure Cay, Hope Town and Man O' War Cay.

Will post more stories tomorrow, including Elden's "Fish Story".  Tillthen, enjoy the following photos!

Sunset on the Atlantic

Beach at Powell Cay

Sunrise at Powell Cay

Elden's first catch of the trip

St. Augustine to Stuart... Finally!

We caught up with Carolina Moon & Mike & Bejay after a day of rest at St. Augustine and continued the trek South with them. Plan was to go 3 days around 50 miles or so and them take it easy the next three days. This would give us a chance to rest and avoid the weekend boaters on the St. Lucie River.
      First stop was Daytona to anchor after 54 nm. Winds were from NE and settled down for a good nights sleep. We had a couple of boats anchor a little close, but had no issues with dragging anchors.

Morning of St. Augustine departure








Next was Coco. A little longer and the weather started getting cooler and cloudy. We weren't in short & t-shirt weather yet! 

Bundled up, but not as many layers as the first time we headed south!







 From Coco to Palm Bay and Ft. Pierce were shorter and really windy. The anchorages were a little rocky at night, but the anchors held well. A few scattered showers at Ft. Pierce, but we were well south of them.

 



Cloud burst at Ft. Pierce anchorage







During our motoring, we had the tides and winds in our favor most of the way. Soteria was able to really throw a bow wave that enticed some visitors to tag along.

One of several surprise visitors riding our wake!

Sunrise with Carolina Moon at Ft. Pierce and our final leg of our journey South










After 6 weeks of traveling and waiting out repairs, upgrades and hurricane Sandy, we pulled into slip J017 at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart around 11 am.We were greeted at the dock by friends we have missed and were glad to see. And the weather improved enough to get Elden into shorts!

Home again in Stuart, Florida!







It has been quite an adventure traveling up and down the East Coast, on the ICW and the North Atlantic the past summer, and we are glad to be back in the warmer weather. We will be spending some time settling in and going over Soteria to make sure she is ready to head to the Bahamas this season. Whether we make it this year depends on the weather and family situations. In the mean time, we will keep you posted on any adventures we take on in Southern Florida.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Fair winds and warm wishes to you all!

Port Royal to Fernandina, or so we thought!

We left Port Royal Landing Marina on Nov. 2, expecting a great sail on the ocean. Weather forecasts were favorable and the waves were to be 1-2 feet. Little did we know that the weather imps were afoot again. We got about 40 miles from Port Royal when the winds and the waves picked up, and on our nose, again. So we bailed out to the Savannah River to anchor for the night. It took us 9 hours to get there. Any port in a storm comes to mind. We went up as far as the USCG station with another sailboat behind us, Saber Tooth, and anchored with them. It was a lot calmer in the river, and warmer. The sunset was really beautiful, and appreciated, after the rough day we had. That's Saber Tooth on the left. Really great Canadians. More on them later.

We saw a SeaTow boat pulling a red marker up stream on the river as we went in. Not a usual sight. and it was still a little rolly at times.

Next morning, after checking the weather sites again, we left heading towards St. Augustine.  Fernandina was not an option as it would have put us there in the dark if we left early, and we didn't want to leave later. So, entering the North Atlantic was a completely different world. Winds were North and light and the waves were practically non existent. What a difference!  We saw very little boat traffic during the day and none at night until we got close to Jacksonville. That is were the winds starting picking up and the waves began to build. Elden turned Soteria towards shore, as the winds were from the SW. That was a great move as the ride became much smoother. It added a few hours, but it was worth it. As for Saber Tooth, we met up with them around Jacksonville and followed them into St. Augustine. It was good to have company, and someone with radar!  We slowed down to around 5 Kts. so we didn't arrive too early.
     We entered the inlet around 6:45 am following Saber Tooth and watching the out going boats. The USCG had a warning that  Markers 4,5,& 6 were off station, or in other words, missing. There was no problem, but a tight moment when a power boat decided to pass a shrimp boat coming out. Not much room, but credit goes to the shrimper for making room for us.We had the tide with us and we surfed into St. A, doing over 7 Kts. at times.  The sunrise was great and you can see how calm the ocean was.

     We made the 7:30 opening at the Bridge of Lions and docked at St. A City Marina at 7:45 am. It took us 24 1/2 hours to travel 140 nautical miles. in landsman's terms, 161.11 statue miles. Not bad at all! We even saw Vivere, the mega yacht we first saw in Southport. they actually left the dock sideways to get to the Bridge of Lions!

     After getting the mooring ball, we went into town for a hot shower, pizza, beer and bread. Pizzalley's is the best ( and we deserved the beers!)and the Spanish Bakery has fantastic bread. It was back to the boat to crash and wait for Mike & Bejay to arrive on Tuesday before heading out for Daytona. the local pirate ship was out for an evening cruise as well.

More later as we head south to Stuart to prepare and provision for the Bahamas!

Jumping Ahead...

Seems I can't get caught up with all that has been going on, so I am trying something different. This post will begin with what is happening now, with some posts in the future playing catch up. We'll see how this works. We are in Port Royal, SC at the Port Royal Landing Marina, awaiting the passing of Tropical Storm "Sandy" before heading South again. So, here we go....


 We left Sailcraft in Oriental, NC and headed to Morehead City Yacht Basin, where our friends, Robert & Becky, on Sea Quell, were staying for a month. Don & Judy on Nemo, had left by the time we got there, but will catch up with them along the way. We enjoyed a great dinner at "Ruddy Duck" with them. MCYB is a much better choice to stay than Beaufort. Less expensive and better protection.
      From there to Mile Hammock Bay anchorage for a quiet night, or so we thought. We were the second boat to anchor there, along side Sojourn, a motor trawler that we would play leap frog for quite a while. Another Endeavour, Samara (Mario & Sherry), came and anchored fairly close but not a danger. But the last boat in chose to drop his anchor not 50 ft. from us. Elden decided to move, and when we got to our anchor, we were 5 feet from his boat. If the winds had changed, we would have hit each other. He had no clue, and was amazed we were moving.

Sunset with Carolina Moon and friends










     From there, we headed to Wrightsville Beach, playing the waiting game with the bridges, and  we caught up with Carolina Moon and Mike & Bejay Grackin. Had three days of fun with them and discovered a great restaurant,the Causeway Cafe, on the other side of the bridge. Thursday morning came and headed to Southport,NC hoping to head offshore from there.  We left Southport, NC heading to Little River Inlet to go offshore as the tide was coming in Cape Fear Inlet and would not be safe. The weather sites(at least three of them), forecast 5-10 Kts, maybe 15 and 1-2 ft waves overnight. Boy were they wrong! It started out that way, but soon built to 30 Kt. winds with waves over 6 ft after midnight! It was not fun! Elden was a trooper, taking the midnight watch, and after I went below for "a couple of minutes", he wound up on watch until 7 am. I fell asleep for another three hours, missing the worst of it.

Mile Hammock Bay Sunset








       We made it to Charleston around 9 am and to Charleston Maritime Marina by noon. As there were no available docks at any marina, we went to the anchorage across from the city docks. Not bad, but wouldn't want to be there in a blow. One sailboat had it's anchor drag and started drifting down river! the owner finally showed up and reset his anchor. From Charleston we headed towards Port Royal, anchoring at Rock Creek. Very quiet and calm, and since it's been cool, hardly any bugs. Morning saw us off to Beaufort & Port Royal, SC.

Sunrise at Port Royal Landing Marina before Hurricane Sandy





 We are now at Port Royal Landing Marina,were we were planning on a two day stay to restock and recover some more from out offshore experience to Charleston, but nature has again stepped in. We are here for a week, due to Hurricane Sandy.  We have met up with Sami & Barry on Deja Vu, and Mary & Ron Stegall and have been enjoying the time relaxing.  They had a potluck last night, with around 40 people. tonight is the Halloween party. We are not planning on any costumes, but may wind up going in our foul weather gear. Move over Big Bird! 

Will post more as the weekend progresses.
Til then, fair winds and calmer seas!

Susan

On to Charleston and places North!

After a week of resting and waiting for Beryl to depart, we left Callawassie Island for Charleston. After a stop at Port Royal Landing Marina for fuel and a quick visit with Sami & Barry on Deja Vu, we set out for Toogoodoo Creek, our anchorage for the night, and was rewarded with a gorgeous sunset.

It doesn't get much better than this!














On to Charleston and the Maritime Center. The kids from Iowa were able to join us and we all had a great time exploring the city. The grandkids even remembered the life jacket rule! It was a hoot watching them take off and put in the jackets every time they went from the cabin to the cockpit.!

Ethan playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa

Ethan and Hannah hanging out with Dad (Tim)

Caleb having fun with the camera.









The only down side was a late night rocking from a container ship that didn't slow down. Wound up hitting the mast on the boat next door with only minimal damage to the Windex.


Decided to stay inside for the next leg, as the winds were kicking up a bit. Butler Creek was our next stop, with great views at sunset and sunrise. The moon even cooperated by being full that night!

Carolina Moon and friend.







We enjoyed a great meal on board with Mike & Bejay on Carolina Moon. Mike even came over in their dingy to get us.

Mike at the helm!













Next stop was Cricket Cove Marina for fuel and a night's rest at a marina. The weather was wet, and a little cooler, and they have their own weather forecasting service!

 

  Next day was COLD! Rain stayed with us until we almost got to Wrightsville Beach anchorage. The wind and the tide were against us and it was a miserable ride from Southport on the Cape Fear River. At least it warmed up at the end of the day.

Next post will continue to cover the North Carolina journey on our way to the Chesapeake.

Till then, fair winds and calm seas!

Susan