George Town to Fernandina Beach

Sent 4/26/2007 From Marsh Harbor, Bahamas

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I've been negligent in my log updates since we left George Town since I knew we'd have no means of sending anything. On April 24, I attempted to work on the log as we sailed to Little Harbor and Lynyard Cay in the Abacos. It was a bit of a boisterous sail, a reach in 15-20 knot of winds with a NE swell running 4 - 6 feet with a few bigger ones. It's was nice sailing as we rode over the swell with a rocking motion, doing between 6 - 7.5 knots. It was a bit hard to hit the right keys, but we'd likely connect up with the internet while in Marsh Harbor in a day or two.

We ran into some of the cruisers we met at Conception Island and joined the crew of Little Hawk, a 28 'Bristol Channel cutter, for lunch in George Town. It was nice to have some time to spend with them and get to know the crew a bit better. They had replaced crew in Long Island, one of whom had been from the Burlington area, so the Vermont connection was back again. One of the new crew they'd just taken on was a sculptor from Memphis who does large public pieces of which she has 6 or 7 now up in Memphis.

We also met up with some of the folks we met at Long Island who were also heading north, but planning on stopping at Nassau and the Berry Islands instead of the Abacos. We thought we might see them as we headed up the Exumas since we both planned on leaving in the morning.

Leaving George Town, we had good winds and a great sail north and decided to go as far as Dotham Cut just north of Black Point. We debated stopping there again and doing laundry, but decided to anchor off Bitter Iguana Cay rather than go south. Since there was a beach and this was a new cay to explore, we launched the dinghy and went ashore. There were indeed iguanas on the cay, but they mustn't see too many visitors that feed them, because they just watched us and didn't come begging for food.

Unfortunately,once we got back to the boat, the wind chose to blow from the SW which gave us no protection . It had been forecast to be light and variable. Rather than tough it out, we fired up the engine and headed for the north side of Harvey's Cay about an hour away. Since there was about an hour of daylight left, we hustled and got the hook down just before dark. We hoped the wind wouldn't swing into the west and that we were far enough off the rock ledges for a somewhat restful night. Probably the best thing about most anchorages in the Exumas is the sandy bottom that the plow likes to bury itself in, so we don't tend to worry about dragging.

It wasn't a great night since the wind did go to the west during the night. As we pulled the anchor in the morning, we were hailed on the VHF by our friends who had spent an equally uncomfortable night anchored off Black Point. They planned on pulling into a spot about 5 miles away. We were headed for Cambridge Cay anchorage in the Exuma Park which would also offer good protection, and the opportunity to go ashore and to snorkel.

Bell Rock at Cambridge Cay

After entering the way points for the cuts from the Sound we decided it looked lumpier out there than we'd thought, so we took the narrow passage around Bell Island where we touched on the sand bank last year after giving the rocks a wider berth. It was easy this year with a high tide and knowing where to go. The park had installed new moorings in the anchorage this year, and we decided to grab one for the night. The Park had a host boat there to welcome visitors and collect the fees. The couple working had just started a 30 day volunteer rotation, and chatted with us a bit when they came to collect.

Hiking on Cambridge Cay

After lunch we packed our snorkel gear and headed for shore for the short hike to the Sound from the anchorage. The tide was going down so we waded out to Bell Rock before hiking up the ridge that overlooks the area. Having seen an area that looked like it would be interesting to snorkel, we swam out past the point and Bell Rock. There were ridges of coral ledges interspersed with sand that dropped down like steps. While the terrain was interesting there weren't all that many fish. I did spot a big barracuda observing us as we swam. Before returning to the boat we stopped off at a small cay where we'd snorkeled last year. Once again, we were surprised by the variety and number of fish.

The next day we headed for the Sea Aquarium and plane wreck sites that we'd liked last year. We found a Park mooring close by, and when the warden swung past, he said they'd installed the mooring to help avoid the need to anchor in an area of strong currents. We dinghied over to the plane wreck first since there were a number of boats at the Sea Aquarium. Supposedly it was close to slack water, so it was a surprise to find it was work to make headway into the current. We used the dinghy and did a couple of drift dives over the reefs and were rewarded with a turtle sighting before we headed to Sea Aquarium. There was a current running there too, so we didn't venture far from the dinghy. The group of people who had just departed motored to an area nearby and it appeared they were doing movie shots of ski doos charging past a camera held by a man standing in the shallow water.

House and dock on Halls Pond Cay

We explored an area beyond Little Hall's Pond Cay that the charts indicated was shallow and found enough water to bring Antares almost to the cay I wanted to explore. It's interesting to see the changes in the shifting sand banks over the years. We'd seen sail boats anchored there last year and wondered how they'd gotten that far without running aground since the charts show the area to be too shallow for access.

One of the beaches off Halls Pond Cay

The next day we headed back to the Banks and had a nice sail up to Highborne Cay. There is a popular anchorage just outside a marina and we hoped we'd be able to get access to the internet to check on the weather sites when we went in with the dinghy. However the access was limited to marina guests only, and the marina was full.

Sun rise at highborne Cay

We were up bright and early in the morning since we planned to head for Royal Island in Eleuthera, a trip of some 60 nm, crossing a shallow unsurveyed bank at high tide. Our plans went by the wayside though, when we managed to park the boat on the edge of a reef. When it was obvious that plan A, reverse back hard, wasn't going to work, we quickly dropped the main, launched the dinghy (we're getting really good at this now) and took out anchors to kedge us off. It was scary since the rudder was aground too, and is much more vulnerable than the keel which is external lead.

At least it was just past low tide, but the wind, while light, was to build to 15 - 20 knots and would blow us further onto the reef. It took a frantic hour plus, but we managed to get free and not get blown back on the reef while retrieving the anchors. At the end I got to stay below, flipping the breaker on the windlass when it popped under load, and to hear an awful grinding noise I hope never to hear again, as we pulled free.

Leonard had the way points on the GPS and thought we were clear of the reef. Being early morning, the sun was too low to provide the color variations in the water that help judge depths. Fortunately we do keep an eye on the depth gage, and when it started to get shallow he throttled back and put it in neutral, so we were going slow when we hit. Unfortunately his impulse was to turn to the west where he expected better depths, rather than a hard over back the way we'd come, and that put us on the reef. Life's lovely lessons. Some other experiences we hope to do without are collision, dismasting, fire and hurricanes.

Once free of the reef, we were glad to find the rudder moved easily, and decided we'd head for an anchorage at Ship Channel Cay about 10 miles north where we could do a more thorough damage assessment. When he dove on the boat, Leonard was surprised to find no visual damage other that what we know has to be some scrapes on the keel and rudder.

Ruins at Ship's Channel Cay

We spent a quiet day regrouping. We explored a series of coral heads around the anchorage in the afternoon with our snorkels. It was the first time I saw shells called flamingo tongues attached to sea fans.

Unusual cruise ship with boats astern for taking folks to attractions

There was a vessel that looked like a fishing boat anchored nearby. After looking more closely, it appeared to be a very small cruise ship that was taking passengers out to some of the dive and snorkel sights around the island. Just before dinner they were dropped off at various places along the shore with buckets and appeared to be picking things up from the rocks. We wondered what they were finding.

In the morning we were faced with crossing the reef strewn bank just after low tide. Being a bit gun shy, we carefully picked our way around the many heads we saw. We did manage to do it under sail and were relieved when we reached the Fleeming Cut and deeper water. Other than the stress of looking for "hard spots" it was a nice sail, with the winds having gone a bit more easterly than the day before, giving us a reach instead of a beat. However, about 5 miles after the cut, the wind picked up from the NE, giving us a long beat for the last 10 miles to Royal Island.

Entrance to Royal Island Harbor

Once in the harbor we found most of the boats we'd seen at Conception Island already at anchor. By the time the last boat arrived just before dark, there were 24 boats anchored in the harbor. A number had been there for a few days waiting for wind and sea conditions to improve before heading for Little Harbor in the Abacos. The weather forecast for the next day was for winds 15-20 out of the east. Given the conditions we'd just sailed through, we thought we'd spend a day at anchor in the harbor. The wind blew most of the night, but at least there wasn't any surge, so it was a relatively quiet night. The ruins we'd explored last year were now off limits and had a guard and a dog to keep folks away. There was several buildings along the south shore of the island in preparation for the new development that is underway.

Ruins at Royal Island

About 0645 we woke up and found most of the boats had left. The wind was much lighter and actually out of the east, so within minutes we had the engine turning over and the anchor chain clanking into the locker. We were about an hour behind the fleet. After very carefully avoiding the reef at the north end of the island, we were on our way.

We had one interesting crossing situation with a freighter. It's a toss up as to who really has the right of way, but in any case, might over right wins hands down. When it was apparent we'd need to change course to avoid a very close call, Leonard finally raised the captain on the VHF. With English as a second language and accents, we were finally able to agree to alter course to pass port to port.

Our radio conversation alerted the boats ahead of our presence. We'd been listening to talk of fishing tournament after several boats caught mahi mahi and others lost them at the rail. It had to be hard trying to land a fish while under full sail doing 6-7 knots. We were all headed for Lynyard Cay for the night, and were invited to another impromptu shore side potluck with lots of fresh fish.

Fish fry at Lynyard Cay with the "gang"

It was quite a sail. From anchor up until we entered the cut in the Abacos, we averaged 6.2 knots. After raising full sail, we reefed the main and rolled in on the jib and still flew. We managed to catch 4 boats in the fleet and were right behind 2 more. Apparently this morning's short wave weather forecast called for light winds, but they got it wrong. Once again, the last stretch had the winds increase into the mid 20's and shifted just enough to the north so it was no longer an easy reach. It had, however, been an easy on the fuel trip so far, with 7/8th of our tank still full since George Town.

We planned to spend a few days in Marsh Harbor reprovisioning, doing laundry and getting things squared away for the hop over the Gulf Stream and back to the States. The weather specialists were talking about much lighter winds for the next couple of weeks, so some of the cruisers planned on heading out by the weekend before the winds went light. We weren't in that much of a hurry, and given the accuracy to the forecast predictions we'd been experiencing, we weren't sure we could trust the forecasts..

Sent 5/1/2007 From Fernandina Beach, FL

Thursday evening we said good-bye to the members of the "1500 Gang" since most of them planned on having anchors up by 0630. The air waves would seem empty after hearing them on the VHF with weather and fishing contest updates, but we didn't want to do the jump from Lubbers Cut to Beaufort, NC with just the 2 of us. Most of them had picked up additional crew either in the Abacos or at Long Island. The forecast was for the wind to continue to blow for a few more days before going light and variable. They hoped to catch the wind, but miss the gale force winds predicted (and experienced by another friend from the 1500 already on the say up the coast) further north when the cold front got offshore. Hope they all had smooth sailing.

Anchorage at Marsh Harbor

We did a few last minute errands on Friday morning, got an updated weather report and eased out of the harbor at just about dead low tide. The conditions going around the Whale were dramatically different from last year. We sailed the passage with ease and I was left wishing I could go ashore to check the beaches there. We planned on stopping at Green Turtle Cay, but were sailing so nicely that we continued on to Manjack Cay. Leonard would have gone further if I'd agreed, but the cold front was still in the wings and the anchorage there would give us some protection from the wind. I was good and didn't insist on launching the dinghy to go exploring, although it would have been interesting to have gone through the cays to the Atlantic.

Frigate bird soaring over Marsh Harbor

The winds really did go light as forecast this time, so in the morning we stopped at Spanish Cay to top off the fuel tank in case needed to motor all the way back to the States. We'd thought about sitting out the cold front at the marina here, it's a fancy resort and priced as such now, but were glad it wasn't necessary. Now decision was were to go for the last night in the Bahamas, lots of choices and none of them perfect. We finally decided to stay on the east side of Great Sale Cay as it would offer some protection from the W or N winds that would occur when the front finally came.

It looked like showers were in the offing much of the day, but none of them got to us. We were looking forward to a good rinse down of the decks since we hadn't had rain for some time and things were salty from the jump to the Abacos.

It was early evening when we finally arrived at Great Sale Cay. The water was shallow and clear and we'd been looking at the bottom which was a mix of what looked like sand ridges with occasional areas of sponges and sea whips. However, when we tried to set the anchor, it was more like a paved parking lot, hard, and with no place for the anchor to grab. On the second try we backed ever so gently, just enough to stretch the chain on the bottom. When I swam over the anchor that's exactly what I saw, an neat line of chain going to the anchor which was not going to hold us if the wind blew.

Luckily it was a very quiet night. The anchor drag feature on the GPS never went off. We were up and underway before 0700, following another sailboat that had been anchored south of us, around the shoal that extends both S and E of the cay. We gave it wide berth since the chart indicated shifting sand bars.

Imperceptible horizon with calm seas

The sea was calm, but there was just enough wind to fill the sails and give us a little boost as we headed across the bank. We could have counted starfish, but there weren't any. We did find one small patch of coral and could easily see the fish swimming around it. Leonard took a couple of movies as we went past the patches of plant life. The horizon blended the sea and sky so well that it was hard to tell where the water ended and the sky began. We saw flying fish that would pop out of the water and dance along the surface on their tails for 30 or more feet before disappearing below again.

It was certainly an easier crossing of the bank than last year when we had more wind, but from the wrong direction, and spent time tacking toward our way point at the edge of the bank. By 1815 we'd crossed the bank, reached the deep water and had enough wind to shut the engine off and just sail. I like it when we're heading north and catch the gulf stream, and the GPS speed picks up and the miles tick past quickly. Usually the knotmeter on the boat reads a bit higher than the GPS, but in the stream we saw over 3 knots in our favor, which is about half again our normal speed of 6 knots.

Once again there was a slight northerly wind component in the gulf stream. There were 3-4 foot swells from the NNE that added to the boat motion with the winds from the E and the current from the S. It was a rolly night which left Leonard feeling less than great in spite of taking a pill. It was hard sleeping until you got accustomed to rolling back and forth in the bunk.

Sunset on the Atlantic (haze is from the fires in Fl and GA)

We'd been within range of the NOAA weather broadcasts since morning, but the one we received best was for the Florida Keys, and not as pertinent as a forecast for further north would have been. At least we could hear there were no gulf stream hazards, which was as expected, but still welcome news. We were leaving our options open to come ashore at Cape Canaveral if the weather changed. At one point Leonard picked up a report of stronger NW winds and decided to head a bit closer to shore so we'd be out of the gulf stream and the seas the wind would generate.

By morning the sea was like a big wobbly soap bubble. Lots of surface tension and movement but like glass. When I went out for watch I happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a sword fish breaking the surface several times and standing on its tail. We also "caught" a fish as we found a flying fish in the cockpit giving us a glassy stare. There were lots of jelly fish that had reddish brown color around the edge bobbing in the water at various depths and a few sails of Portuguese man of war on top of the surface. For the first time I saw small fish the color of the sargasso weed that darted away from the weed patches as we approached. A couple of slightly larger striped fish were hiding in the weed too. Shortly after breakfast we were saluted by 2 dolphins who swam to the bow, did a fancy broaching dive and sank from sight.

American redstart taking a breather on bimi strap

We also had several brief visitors from the sky. Leonard got a great shot of an American redstart while I was off watch. I was befriended by LBB (little brown bird) who came and went several times, and a very brief visit on the lower spreaders by another feathered friend that looked like a yellow rumped warbler, but it is difficult to identify birds looking up. Since it wasn't as windy as in past years, I guess they weren't as tired, hence the shorter visits.

My little brown bird

The assembly and launch sites at the Cape Canaveral are a lot like Atlantic City. You see them from a long way off and it takes forever to get past them. With the winds remaining light we resumed our course for the St. Mary's River to clear customs. It would take about 24 hours before we'd arrive, so we settled back into our loose watch routine and continued on our way. About dinner time we even got enough wind to shut down the engine and sail until we finally resorted to turning the engine back on as we approached the St. John's River around breakfast time the next morning.

The Navy was running war exercises just offshore in the area around the St. John's River and were busy telling everyone to get out of their way. One exasperated fishing charter captain requested they switch to channel 13 (bridge to bridge conversations) and then asked when they planned to start the turn they'd been announcing so he could avoid them. Luckily we weren't involved in anything but listening to the conversations.

By 1100 we were approaching the channel at the St. Mary's River. It took a bit longer to sail in since we managed to hit a 2 knot ebb current, but we were tied up at the dock waiting to clear customs and take on fuel by 1300. Fifty four hours and 313 nautical miles, not a bad trip.

The town dock at Fernandina Beach

Homeland Security is trying something new in Florida. They are issuing personalized cards complete with phone numbers to facilitate check in procedures. Actually it is just more of "big brother" watching since they record all the information in a computer program. It will cut down on the work for the agents since they can choose to do it on the phone rather than inspect in person. The agent picked us up and drove us to his office to issue the cards, so if we do it again all we need to do is call for a clearance, and if we're lucky we won't be the one, in however many, who gets tabbed for more scrutiny. No questions were asked regarding liquor, tobacco, fire arms or if we were bringing in prohibited items.

We took a town mooring ball across from the marina for the night. We wanted to go to town for a bit, but the wind has been topping out at 20+ knots for a bit, so with the current and the wind, we'd get a free salt water shower on the trip ashore. We also plan on spending a day up at Cumberland Island since we didn't have time to stop in the fall. Then we'll start the trek north. With a reiterative forecast of S winds for the rest of the week, we'll most likely do offshore jumps and avoid the astronomically low tides that will come with the full moon. Hopefully we'll also avoid the smoke from the huge fire in Georgia. We've already seen signs of it with the hazy conditions and the blood red color of the moon and sun as they set in the west.

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