Georgetown, Bahamas and back to Florida

Ship’s Log – February 14, Georgetown, Bahamas

mid-March, 2010, East Coast, US

February 14, Valentine’s - was Tom and Suzi’s departure day. We got them safely off – a great week it had been, storms and all. We now had a week in front of us to get restocked, laundry, water and check back in with local friends and get ourselves moved north to meet my sister, Kathryn. We thought we had to make a hasty departure from Georgetown, but the weather (as usual) changed that decision and we were just as glad to have some time to visit with our friends on Ultra and Seas the Day. Just before dinner on our boat with guests coming aboard, the generator quit. Always something. The guys helped Mark work on it a bit then and more the next day and they narrowed it down to a solenoid or some such part. Parts were ordered and sent to Kathryn who would bring them along. But after some wonderful catching up time with Bill, JoAnne, Jan and Mark we started our northern trek on Friday the 19th.
Going out the cut from Elizabeth Harbor into the Northeast Providence Channel we passed a delivery vessel that had gone hard aground. We had heard the chatter on the radio but it was sobering to actually see it. For the ride outside in the Channel, Mark had set up some ballyhoo that he bought for fishing and we got them in the water. Nothing – nothing – nothing – nothing – nothing and 4 ½ hours later just as we were about to turn into Adderly Cut at Lee Stocking Island for our overnight, we had a big strike. Finally! Mark landed a Skipjack Tuna. After getting it landed we poked our way around the island through some skinny water at low tide of course and into a lovely anchorage. Nice calm night and fresh fish for supper!
Saturday the 20th we decided to go outside again as it is a lovely calm day. It was the day of the barracuda. The first one was caught shortly after leaving Adderly Cut. It became bait. The 2nd one was interesting. After quite a struggle Mark finally got it close to the boat and suddenly it seemed that we had lost whatever it was, only to pull in what was left – a head – of a huge barracuda. Shark food? Continuing on our way Mark remarked that he could see the bottom and asked what the depth was. It was 60 feet! Amazingly clear water. Then back into Dotham Cut and we pulled into Black Point where we had been about a month prior, headed to town for internet and beverage. Sunday morning we did some snorkeling at a near by cay where we saw the Iguanas on the beach and found some nice small coral heads. It was a lovely calm day and we had the place to ourselves for quite awhile. Then onto the banks to get to Staniel Cay and we dropped the hook by the closed Thunderball restaurant.
I dingied over to the Isles Store Monday morning to walk to the airport and meet Kathryn. Her 8 seater plane stopped at Black Point first then came back to Staniel. After meeting her we stopped at the Isles Store for a few things and then back out to the boat under very gray skies, but little wind. Not the most auspicious start for her week. But the repair parts that she brought along did the trick and Mark had the generator up and running in no time at all. We had a great dinner, had bit too much to drink and got ready for the (NEXT!?!) storm which of course made for a crappy night; rocked and rolled – got no sleep. Probably the rolliest night so far. Once it calmed down in the morning we pulled it together to snorkel the Thunderball grotto, a “swim-in” cave. It turned out to be very nice and absolutely worth it but I think the fish were expecting a handout! Then we moved via the banks – dead calm, still gray skies - to Tamarind / Mice for snorkeling and to prepare for the (STILL!?!?) next blow. This is a decently protected area and also has decent area to snorkel where you can get out of the hard current. We showed Kathryn the art of conch fishing (reach down, pick up) and got a good batch of conch. I felt kinda off still so handed over my dinner chores to Mark and Kathryn. I had a wicked headache and we figured out later that it was from holding our head up snorkeling (not the drinking!)
Wednesday morning the weather held off. Little wind but also little sun. We finally got going and took the dingy over to Thomas Is. to walk the trail to the other side and poke around. After lunch on the boat Kathryn wanted to hit the water again, so I geared up and went in with her. We first poked around the “Mice” keeping an eye on the manta ray asleep on the bottom near the boat. Then we moved over to the Tamarind side and poked along that side for quite awhile. The manta then checked us out from a distance and it was spooky watching him watch us as he glided by. He was big! Conch preparation time on the boat between Mark trying various methods of retrieving the meat and Kathryn and me trying to keep the shells for souvenirs made for a big mess. Mark did prepare cracked conch for us for supper. I have decided that I don’t really need any more conch. It was fun, I’m glad I did it, but they still taste like little erasers no matter how hard you pound them. The wind picked up after supper and we prepared for another night of rock and roll. Fortunately it was not too bad as we were pretty well protected but the wind did howl with a good lightening show and it poured. Kathryn has been very valiant in taking advantage of fun time on the boat and she has the upper and back decks all set up for sunning (what little there had been) and reading – which is what we are doing today (between cooking, eating and cribbage) as the wind continues to howl – seems to be the most wind we have had too. The sun however came out – finally! But - I’ve about had it. I am mentally planning our trip back to FL. I wouldn’t mind hanging out there for awhile, but I am sick of the constantly and intensely bad weather. It seems that I am not alone. Other cruisers are starting to bail. I do feel badly as Mark would be very happy just hanging out here.
Friday dawned lovely - thank goodness - and we moved up to Fowl Cay for what turned out to be one of the most gorgeous days we’d had in ages. If there were more like this – which is my understanding as to “normal” weather down here – it would be an entirely different story! There at Fowl, we found a great snorkel place and then took the dingy over to the Rocky Dundas to check out the caves there again. Finally getting cold having now spent quite some time in the water, we headed back to the boat and hung out for a while enjoying the lovely day. Not being a great anchorage though we moved on up to Cambridge Cay and ended up anchoring as the moorings were all full. (Can you guess why?) First we wanted to head to the island and for a walk over the island to the beach and back. It seemed cleaner of trash than the last time. While Mark was grilling the dinner steak we saw in the light of the aft deck on the water, the new resident bull sharks. They were impressive. No night swimming here!
Saturday we dubbed around in the morning and prepped to move back to the Mice for yet ANOTHER blow – which is why the moorings at Cambridge were all full. Back at the “Mice” we did more snorkeling and hiking on Thomas Cay.
Sunday’s blow was primarily wind, no rain to speak of and a full moon peeking through the clouds. The morning came with a lovely sky – more like a brisk fall day in ME – windy, nearly clear and chilly. Then it was time to move back to Staniel so we could be set up for Kathryn’s morning flight. We ended up below Thunderball Club again on a mooring we had seen there. Unfortunately that evening, hurrying around the side decks in bare feet I badly mushed - I think broke – the little toe on my left foot running it into the base of the side door unit.
The departure morning was cloudy again but calm and we all piled into the dingy to take Kathryn ashore. That turned into an adventure as her Flamingo Airlines plane never showed up. There were four of them with the 11:30 connection in Nassau on Jet Blue. Fortunately someone spoke up who knew of a local pilot that could take them. He was called, appeared quickly, was hired and off they went. We grabbed a few items form the local food stores and headed back to the boat where upon I collapsed. I was quite tired and my foot was really hurting. I headed for a nap and Mark drove us up to Compass Cay where we then parked for the next four days sitting out - you guessed it – yet another blow. While there, Mark explored while I slept, and then we went to the dock “sundowner”, meeting yet some more wonderful cruisers. I seemed better the next two days and we did walk the island a bit chekcing out their resident pet sharks.

By Friday the 5th (now March!) the weather had calmed down and we headed up to Hawksbill Cay, just a few miles north. The hike on that island turned out to be more rigorous that I was going to be able to do with my hurting toe, so we stuck to the beach which was lovely. We were the only boat there! With that done by early afternoon we decided to move again up to Shroud Cay which was again just a few miles away. There we settled down for a nice supper and lovely sunset. Then the dreaded wind against the tide started up and we had our all time worst night. WE could not seem to get the lines set up to aim the boat correctly into the surge. Even Mark moved to the salon to try to sleep.

Saturday morning I threw in the towel and mentioned that Nassau was a mere 40 miles away. Mark dropped the mooring lines and headed out. Two days in Nassau and then there was a great weather window and we decided to do the run straight to the states. It would mean a 24 hour run, and we could bail at the Berry Islands and Bimini if the weather did not hold. It was a long 24 hours, but the crossing was perfectly smooth. We cleared Customs and pulled into Fort Lauderdale at dawn on Tuesday the 9th, heading to Sylvia Lake to drop the hook and sleep. I flew out on Wednesday and am now back in Maine with my (definitely broken) toe healing when I have not pushed it too hard playing outside in the garden with some of the gorgeous weather they have been having up here. It has alternated with extremely windy, rainy weather too – it is good I am here to stem the flood in the basement which did not use to leak. In the meantime Mark spent a few days getting parts from the huge West Marine in Fort Lauderdale and doing some repairs. His son, Jonathan flew down and they spent a week starting north. Unfortunately, Jonathan had to leave and Mark is now doing a solo trek, making his way north. He has done some on the inside and has gone outside on clam days and is currently somewhere in southern Georgia enjoying the Lowland countryside. He sent his log along.

Mark’s entries
3/20, Saturday – Looks like I will being doing the log now, as Joanne left for Maine from Ft Lauderdale and Jon came on board. We have been traveling together for a week. He has had a bad cold but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. We arrived in Eau Gallie, FL (mile marker 914) yesterday afternoon and went to West Marine and then a restaurant on the waterfront called Squid Lips for the happy hour. Raw oysters and a beer was a perfect end of the day. Not quite the end of the day actually. We started a project of wiring a new windlass switch at the helm so I can pilot the boat and raise the anchor in a current. That was my primary concern about being alone. We were finished at 8:30 and it worked the first time, only took 5 hours to install. We had beef stew I made at noon for supper, watched a movie and called it a day. Jon took a cab at noon and is heading for Portland and The UK on Monday. This is the start of the singlehanding part of the trip. I am anxious to see how it goes alone.
3/21, Sunday – The day started sunny and little wind. On the road at 8:00 and had little traffic all morning. It started raining around 3:00 and continued until after I anchored at 4:45 at Rockhouse creek (mm842). Developed a leak at the VHF antennae which will need to be looked after. Long day but good to get some of Florida behind me.
3/22, Monday – Back on the road at 8:20 and plan to run to Palm Coast Marina for a shorter day. Arrived at around 2:00 and took a shower. I ran into the captain form s/v Prim with whom we have crossed paths a number of times. From him I learned that the Bridge Of Lions in St. Augustine was closing that night for 5 days to remove a temporary structure. Back on the boat at 3:00 for a fast (?) run of 26 miles to Comachee Cove before the bridge closing at 8:00. Of course that was not to be the end of the story. Turning out of the marina the dingy was on a short tether and took on water. So I ended up drifting in the current sitting in the dingy bailing and no one on board Avalon. The challenges of singlehanding have begun. Made it to the marina (mm775.7) by 6:00 and took the rest of the day off. Spent Tuesday there fueling, buying groceries, taking on water and doing laundry.
3/24, Wednesday – Made a run on the outside today. No wind, no waves, no fish, the sky was mostly overcast with temps in the mid 60’s. Anchored at Jekyll Island, GA. It was a long day but made good progress. I will try to get the autopilot connected to the GPS in Brunswick GA. The autopilot was pretty fussy today and I spent hours correcting it. It is really great to be outside. The traveling is so much easier, just set the course and go. I even got to make a sandwich underway.
3/25, Thursday – Did a little work on the books today and found the name of a marine electronics tech. I want to get the GPS attached to the autopilot. Made an appointment for tomorrow at the Golden Isles Marine. Moved the boat a short hop to the marina in the afternoon.
3/26, Friday – The dock master is a very nice lady named Melissa. She stands about 5 feet tall and has a big shock of curly blonde hair and puts in a 12 hour day dragging fuel hoses down the dock over her shoulder and handling lines for boats. She even delivers guests a newspaper and muffins in the morning. Nice place. Lester Forbes showed up at 9:00, coffee in hand. Lester went into the Navy in 1960, retired in the 80’s and to this day is still doing marine electronics. We worked thru my wiring and I have a much better understanding of how it all works. Now my GPS sends data to my computer, VHF, and radar. I can input waypoints to the GPS and send them to the autopilot and the radar. I still can’t get the computer to send a route to the autopilot. It seems there is an interrupt somewhere that is causing a conflict. I used to be able to do this with the Northstar GPS, but no more. I also need a new gyro compass for the autopilot. Again, everything on a boat is broken; you just don’t know it yet. Hit the road at 1:15 and anchored in New Teakettle Creek (mm643) at 5:00.
3/27, Saturday – This morning I saw a fish jump clear of out of the water about 100 yards away. It was huge. I am guessing it was at least 4 and maybe 5 feet long. I didn’t think anything could live in this brown muddy water. Getting underway gave me a chance to try out the new windlass switch. The wind was blowing like stink and with the current I was back and forth between the helm and the anchor but I am pleased the system works well enough. The day was spent mostly winding thru the lowlands. Huge expanses of grass and a maze of rivers and streams, sometimes with the current and sometimes against. I needed to cross several sounds and all were windy and rough. The worst was Sapelo Sound. The wind was blowing 20-25 knots and my course was into the wind and waves. The seas were a short chop averaging 4 feet with a few six footers thrown in for fun. Avalon handled it without whining and in about an hour it was over. Anchored in Herb River (mm584) about 5:00, same spot as on the way down. The wind is still blowing like stink.

Note from JSW. Since then he has been to Savannah and plans to land in Charleston tomorrow (3/30).

3/20, Saturday – Looks like I will being doing the log now, as Joanne left for Maine from Ft Lauderdale and Jon came on board. We have been traveling together for a week. He has had a bad cold but we enjoyed ourselves anyway. We arrived in Eau Gallie (914) yesterday afternoon and went to West Marine and then a restaurant on the waterfront called Squid Lips for the happy hour. Raw oysters and a beer were a perfect end of the day. Not quite the end of the day actually. We started a project of wiring a new windlass switch at the helm so I can pilot the boat and raise the anchor in a current. That was my primary concern about being alone. We were finished at 8:30 and it worked the first time, only took 5 hours to install. We had beef stew I made at noon for supper, watched a movie and called it a day. Jon took a cab at noon and is heading for Portland and The UK on Monday. This is the start of the singlehanding part of the trip. I am anxious to see how it goes alone.
3/21, Sunday – The day started sunny and little wind. On the road at 8:00 and had little traffic all morning. It started raining around 3:00 and continued until after I anchored att 4:45 at Rockhouse creek (842). Developed a leak at the VHF antennae which will need to be looked after. Long day but good to get some of Florida behind me.
3/22, Monday – Back on the road at 8:20 and plan to run to Palm Coast Marina for a shorter day. Arrived at around 2:00 and took a shower. I ran into the captain form s/v Prim at which point I learned that the Bridge Of Lions in St. Augustine was closing for 5 days to remove a temporary structure. Back on the boat at 3:00 for a fast (?) run of 26 miles to Comachee Cove before the closing at 8:00. Of couuse that was not to be the end of the story. Turning out of the marina the dingy was on a short tether and took on water. So I ended up drifting in the current sitting, in the dingy bailing and no one on board Avalon. The challenges of singlehanding have begun. Made it to the marina (775.7) by 6:00 and took the rest of the day off.
3/23, Tuesday – Spent the day fueling, buying groceries, taking on water and doing laundry.
3/24, Wednesday – Made a run on the outside today. No wind, no waves, no fish, the sky was mostly overcast with temps in the mid 60’s. Anchored at Jekyll Island. It was a long day but made good progress. I will try to get the autopilot connected to the GPS in Brunswick Ga.. The autopilot was pretty fussy today and I spent hours correcting it. It is really great to be outside. The traveling is so much easier, just set the course and go. I even got to make a sandwich underway.
3/25, Thursday – Did a little work on the books today and found the name of a marine electronics tech. I want to get the GPS attached to the autopilot. Made an appointment for tomorrow at the Golden Isles Marine. Moved the boat a short hop to the marina in the afternoon.
3/26, Friday – The dock master is a very nice lady named Melissa. She stands about 5 feet tall and has a big shock of curly blonde hair and puts in a 12 hour day dragging fuel hosess down the dok over her shoulder and handling lines for boats. She even delivers guests a newspaper and muffins in the morning. Nice place. Lester Forbes showed up at 9:00, coffee in hand. Lester went into the Navy in 1960, retired in the 80’s and to this day is still doing marine electronics. We worked thru my wiring and I have a much better understanding of how it all works. Now my GPS sends data to my computer,VHF, and radar. I can input waypoints to the GPS and send them to the autopilot and the radar. I still can’t get the computer to seend a route to the autopilot. It seems there is an interrupt somewhere that is causing a conflict. I used to be able to do this with the Northstar GPS, but no more. I also need a new gyro compass for the autopilot. Again, everything on a boat is broken, you just don’t know it yet. Hit the road at 1:15. And anchored in New Teakettle Creek (643) at 5:00.
3/27, Saturday – This morning I saw a fish jump clear of out of the water about 100 yards away. It was huge. I am guessing it was at least 4 and maybe 5 feet long. I din’t think anything could live in this brown muddy water. Getting underway gave me a chance to try out the new windlass switch. The wind was blowing like stink and with the current I was back and forth between the helm and the anchor but I am pleased the system works well enough. The day was spent mostly winding thru the lowlands. Huge expanses of grass and a maze of rivers and streams, sometimes with the current and sometimes against. I needed to cross several sounds and all were windy and rough. The worst was Sapelo Sound. The wind was blowing 20-25 knots and my course was into the wind and waves. The seas were a short chop averaging 4 feet with a few six footers thrown in for fun. Avalon handled it without whining and in about an hour it was over. Anchored in Herb River (584) about 5:00 , same spot as on the way down. The wind is still blowing like stink.