Yacht Clubs, Florida, June 25 - 28

VERO BEACH, FL, June 25 - 26, 2014

It was sad to leave the Bahamas, but new adventures are waiting, along with tasks to attend and we have a goal to be in Brunswick, GA by 4^th of July weekend to meet up with Atle + Kristina on SummerStar.  

Our first bridge, welcome to the ICW

On Wednesday, June 25 we arrived at Vero Beach Yacht Club and learned there is a Free Bus System that would allow us to get things done.  The next morning we caught the 8:10 AM bus with our first stop at the DMV to acquire a tag for the dinghy, next stop was the bank, haircuts, West Marine, lunch, Publix and back to MS.  As late afternoon was arriving we headed to the beach for a stroll, shopping and cocktail.  It is a beautiful spot and did we mention lots of shops?

Vero Beach / Atlantic Ocean

EAU GALLIE YACHT CLUB, June 27 - 28, 2014

Our next stop is Eau Gallie Yacht Club, our plan was to spend the night and depart in the morning, but Ken – dockmaster told us about Saturday’s Red, White and Boom Celebration, we were staying.   On Saturday morning we grab the bikes and went for a tour that included Lowe’s, Atlantic Ocean, Walmart, Pet Store for charcoal, Publix and back to Moonstruck.  We had lunch, swam and cleaned up for the big celebration.  As we were sitting around the pool, there goes a very familiar face – Sandy MacNeil.

New construction on the ICW

Red, White and Boom Celebration with Sandy, JP, Diane, Bob and Norm at EGYC

West End - U.S.A., June 22 - 24

Plans, they are a wonderful thing, but sometimes one needs a backup plan and ours was to wait for a weather window to cross the Gulfstream to Palm Beach.  We found ourselves with 2 other sailboats waiting for the perfect day.  Monday we woke, JP strolled to the point and reported that with the white caps, today was not the day.  We rented bikes and rode into town, went swimming and just enjoyed our day.  

Local fisherman getting for conch fishing

Our pool at Old Bahama Bay, West End

Maybe tomorrow/Tuesday…..  We woke to find one sailboat departing and the next one getting ready.  We decided today is the day, but first a proper breakfast.  56.59 NM later we tied up to Sailfish Marina/Palm Beach and bought fuel.  It was 1:10 PM and since it was so beautiful on the outside, we headed back out and continued north to the St Lucie Inlet, another 30.43 NM.  We dropped the anchor and spend our first night back in the U.S.A.

the GULFSTREAM

The water gets deep and warm

Our anchorage at St. Lucie River

ABACOS, June 9 - 21

Since wi-fi has been very spotty and we have been busy enjoying the Abacos, here is a quick overview of our travels.  The Abacos are home to the second largest reef system, Australia being the first, the people are friendly and the islands are beautiful, however since arriving the weather has been very wet with daily thunderstorms.  We plan our days around the daily thunderstorms, snorkeling and touring the beautiful islands.

Monday, June 9th we crossed the Northwest Providence Channel from Eleuthera to the Abacos  and saw one freighter

We arrived at Lynyard Cay, Abacos in the rain.  On Tuesday we moved to Little Harbour where we enjoyed lunch at Pete’s Pub, toured Randolph Johnston’s Gallery, and the old lighthouse. 

The view from our mooring ball in Little Harbour

Wednesday we tried to snorkel at Sandy Cay, but a Thunderstorm interrupted and Tilloo Cay was our evening stay.

Anchored at Sandy Cay to snorkel, instead we enjoyed a thunderstorm

Hope Town had us moored for 2 days with more thunderstorms but we did see the lighthouse, Vernon's for a coconut custard pie and snorkeling.

View of Hopetown from the Lighthouse

Snorkeling in the Atlantic Ocean at Hopetown

Man of War was our next stop and is 2.5 miles long and 10 meters at its narrowest part where you view the Atlantic Ocean and Sea of Abaco.  It is known as the boat building capital of the Abacos and described as a great place to fish and relax.   

Sea of Abaco to Port and Atlantic Ocean to Starboard, oh, Queens Highway down the center

JP and Diane's new way to tour the islands

  

Snorkeling at Fowl Cay

Great Guana Cay was our next stop but on the way we stopped at Fowl Cay, snorkeled and arrived at Orchid Bay Marina just before the skies opened up. Check out was 11:00 AM, and but we made time to stroll the beach on the Atlantic Ocean side.  

Orchid Cay Marina waiting for yet another afternoon Thunderstorm

Our next stop was Green Turtle Cay, 3 miles long by 1 mile wide, we rented a golf cart and toured the island.  We also met another PDQ boat named  Tampa Girl from Tampa, FL.

Green Turtle Cay's work to stop Mother Nature

A short trip to Manjack Cay had us searching for a reef, but again local knowledge is a wonderful thing.  We did not travel out far enough to find a reef, but on our way back we did travel up the estuary and saw many turtles, boy can they swim fast.
Our next stop is Spanish Cay and getting there we passed Whale Cay where you are in the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean, did we mention we were trying stay ahead of the T-storm following us? Our plan was for anchor at Big Sale Cay and on Sunday, June 22 we would arrive in West End. 

Traveling to Big Sale Cay and watching the Clouds build

 

Eleuthera, June 7 - 8

Our plan was to continue NW to Highbourne, however there was no room for us. This happens to be the Bahamas Labor Day Weekend, so we decided to head NE to Eleuthera and found a slip at Cape Eleuthera Marina.  It is a fairly new facility able to accommodate the very large vessels, and they made us feel very welcome.  In preparation for our longer days of travel, we filled the water tanks, did laundry and set way points.  We dined at Pascal’s and if you every get to this area, it was a delicious meal prepare by Pascal.

A calm crossing from Wardrick Cay to Cape Eleuthera

Dinner on shore

On June 8,2014 we wanted to stay another day at Cape Eleuthera, but Moonstruck was ready to go and excited about the NW route through Current Cut, then onto Royal Harbour to drop anchor for the night.  It is suggested to time your passage through Current Cut at slack tide or when the tide is ebbing along with good visability.  Going east to west against a flood tide is very difficult as the current flows at speeds of over 5 knots.  We were traveling west to east and planned to arrive at the beginning of a flood tide.  So, 49 NM later, as we approached Current Cut, the grey, dark clouds opened up along with wind, these are the not conditioned for doing this passage.  We dropped anchor and reviewed our options…………  we could wait,

Travelling toward Fleemings Cut

                                                                        

Or we could take the long route, through Fleemings and later we arrived at Current Settlement for a quiet evening.  Tomorrow would be another long day crossing the Northeast Providence Channel to the Abacos.

Fleeming's Cut, a bit different from when we crossed on our way to the Exumas

Land and Sea Park (Cambridge Cay and Wardrick Wells) June 5 - 6

We woke to sunny skies, pulled up anchor and headed north to Compass Cay, on an inside shallow route. This is one of the best feature of Moonstruck as she only draws 2'4" andn we can snake around those little Cays and sand bars for magnificent vistas.

and many times we saw no more than 2 feet under the bottom of the boat.

Our plan was to drop anchor, dinghy into the marina and say “Hi” to Tucker, but we changed our mind, we then motored to Little Halls Pond to say Hi to "Jack Sparrow" – Johnny Depp’s Private Island and dropped the hook.  

We put the dinghy in the water and snorkeled in the Sea Aquarium a small cove along an inlet where fishes are abundant, stopped by to see the wreck of the airplane on the bottom and returned to Moonstruck.

We had an ebbing tide opposing the wind and it was not going to be a pleasant evening, so we pulled up the anchor and went back to Cambridge to secure a mooring.  

A surge coming in the cove made it uncomfortable. Good Bye Jack Sparrow!

A quiet night at a mooring at Exuma Park

More snorkeling on a shallow reef at Exuma Park

Back to Black Point, Staniel Key and Big Majors, June 2 - 4

We woke to a beautiful morning and decided to move north, our first stop would be Little Farmers Cay for lunch, as we got closer the winds seemed to increase and the flood tide was ripping.  Since it was 10:30 AM we decided to continue on, and found white caps on the inside, winds were 25 ++, we are experiencing some very confused weather.  Oh, did I mention that our four glass wine glasses fell and all but one broke.  We were thinking of taking them off the boat, so that has been taken care of.  Once anchored at Black Point, we downloaded the weather, cleaned up broken glass and stayed in to enjoy a quiet afternoon.

Our first order of business was to take the trash ashore, secure a loaf of coconut bread at Lorraines and find eggs.  We were not able to find eggs, and got ready to move north with a stop at Staniel Cay for lunch at the Yacht Club, a new phone at BTC and food stuff at Blue Wing Groceries. 

Delma and JP playing with the new phone

Returning to the marina found the nursing sharks close by to secure the scrapes from the fish being cleaned.  Diane enjoyed getting acquainted with the marine life.

Diane petting the Nurse shark

After a very lazy morning, it was time to go into town, a quick stop at the store, a stroll to the airport,

Staniel Cay Airport - Terminal, Gate, Baggage Area, Runway, etc.

lunch at Staniel Cay Yacht Club, we pulled up anchor and headed around the corner to Big Majors Cay. The sky was getting darker and rain began mid afternoon

Bahamian boat used for the anticipated regatta

Sunset at Big Majors, rain to the East

Rudder Cay Cut - The Caves and the Mermaid

One place not to be missed according to the cruising guides is the mermaid playing the piano at Rudder Cay Cut.
A spooky eerie feeling when snorkeling this beautiful coast of this private island. It is made very clear here that you are not welcome to stroll the beach as indicated by posted "No Trespassing" signs, the cameras well on display and complete with a nice dog watching your moves from the beach.

Another activity when cruising is to watch other boats do their drills of docking and anchoring, sometimes in  hope of picking up a few tips, but mostly to see how quickly they can get in trouble. This time, it was a Moorings charter boat who tried to anchor with wind opposing strong current and after four tries, they quit and went away despite our suggestion to get closer to shore for current protection. Oh well...