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