Bahamas Bound

2006 - 2007

Another Adventure is finally cruising the Bahamas, our destination when we left Sturgeon Bay eons ago.

We plan to post and update at least weekly. We move the older portions of the log to secondary pages accessible at the bottom of the page. Join our voyage!

Updated on 04/01/2007

3/11/07 - Sunday, time for our Jill, Bill & Patti to catch their flight back to WI and for Rand and Butch to come aboard. I'm sure Ruth will miss having the girls aboard, as will I. The only bad part of their visit is that it was over so fast. We forgot about daylight savings time until Rand came back from shopping and mentioned people complaining . Bill, Jill & Patti almost missed their plane! We headed for Allan Cay to show the guys the iguanas. We sailed the entire run averaging in the 7 knot range. We caught a couple of Amberjacks while we were sailing (stopping a charging sailboat to reel in a fish is no small trick). One was about 2-3 lbs and the other 12-13 lbs. Sorry Bill. We arrived in time to anchor and put together a tasty steak dinner. 3/12/07 - We went to the beach to see the reptiles. They were a little scarce... probably forgot to set their clocks ahead. We did get to see about a dozen before we headed to Warderick Wells. 15-20 knot winds made for a 8-9 knot reach under full genoa and a double reefed main. What a ride! As we passed Norman Cay a fish hit. Time for our Chinese Fire Drill. While Rand fought the fish Butch helped keep track of it, ready with the gaff. Ruth and I furled the Genoa and tried to keep the boat slowed in the high winds. The fishing reel kept falling apart and the guys had to reassemble it while fighting the fish. We finally got it alongside, learning we'd caught about 20# of pissed off Barracuda - 42" of fish with nasty teeth. Took us a while to retrieve the lure and return the fish to the sea. Smaller 'Cudas are good eating - not the big ones. By 4pm we were moored in the North Harbor at Warderick Wells - still laughing at ourselves from the fishing experience. What an exciting day! 3/13/07 - 7am, dawn and the wind is still whistling through the rigging like it was last evening... has to be high teens. First project of the day is to get the outboard running. We suspect water got in the fuel, rain through the tank vent, fouling the plugs. Then we'll work on the fishing reel, though it has provided many moments of hilarity as is. Got the engine running, found the carburetor drain and got the last of the water out. Butch, Rand and I hiked to Boo Boo Hill for the fantastic harbor view. Ran into sailors from Milwaukee and Frankfort, MI, on the beach along with people we'd met in Marathon. Traded stories for a while and learned a lot about place to go and not go. It's really fantastic what you can learn in these conversations. Back to the boat where Ruthie was busy working... WIFI here, though S L O W as it is a satellite relay. Rand tried snorkeling a short swim from our boat but the wind and waves made in hard on a first timer and the coral wasn't as developed as the head the gang dove the week before. Still interesting though. 3/14/07 - Another windy night, gusts in the high 20's, we were snug on a park mooring ball. Though we saw a few rain storms none of them affected us as we sailed along at 8.2-9.5 knots to Norman Cay. Arriving around noon we spent the afternoon reading, exploring the ruins of the drug lair and checking out the plane ditched in the harbor. Butch and Ruth teamed up for a delicious meals - ribs on a stick, garlic mashed potatoes and sweet corn kernels. I think I'm gaining weight. 3/15/07 - Last night the anchor watch (a gps feature that tells us if the boat has moved outside a given circle) went off 4 times as the wind and tide fought over AA. I finally enlarged the circle to get some uninterrupted sleep. We headed out mid-morning for Hawksbill Cay, arriving at noon where we found several mooring buoys in 7' of water after brushing bottom a couple of times on our way in. Taking one we were set for the night. A short hike inland brought Rand , Ruth and I to the ruins of a loyalist plantation established in the 1870's. Up to 10 families at a time lived there until the 90's. Hard to believe people live over a 130 years on that barren hunk of rock. Their homes were walls of stacked rock plastered inside and out with a cement made of powdered conch shells and sand. Today these small (10' x 10' to 12' by 20') houses are in ruins. The last 4 families raised buttonwood, sisal and some crops on every piece of tillable land within a day's sail. You wonder what their daily lives were like. Hawksbill's beaches are beautiful white sand, reputedly some of the best beaches in the Exumas. Having walked them it is easy to believe. 3/16/07 - Up at dawn and headed back to Nassau. We motor sailed for a while, then put up the big red gennaker for a couple of hours. As the wind switched we dropped the gennaker and motor sailed the rest of the way to Nassau, arriving at Nassau Harbor Club Marina about 3pm. Rand and Butch will be leaving at dawn for their flight home. 3/17/07 - Up at 4:30 to shower and spend a little time with Butch & Rand before they headed to the airport. Then Ruth & I went to the City Market and provisioned for our next couple of weeks. We'll be working our way south to the Exumas Park to work a couple of days, then start our journey northwest to Miami. Today the winds are out of the west for a good ride. We rode them to Norman Cay, electing to stay there the night as our alternatives would have been too rough due to wave direction. 3/18/07 - We took a down day and stayed in Norman Cay. Ruth and I both needed to relax. read and enjoy the sun. Norman is pretty enough to spend  several days in so it was no tough choice. Ruth acknowledged that cruising may not be for her. I sensed it but didn't want to go there. The lack of success in selling the house is putting a lot of pressure on her. She'll be heading home as soon as we get to Miami to get our taxes done. I'll be taking the boat north to sell?? We'll need to sort out what we'll each be doing. I'll either need a job near home or a very small boat to live on. 3/19/07 - We headed down to Warderick Wells again. I want to volunteer some time to them as the park is a real treasure and needs all the help they can get. We arrived mid-afternoon and went snorkeling. Afterward we showered... Ruth screamed and jumped back out of the shower - we had a 3' snake in the head (bathroom). I grabbed it with a set of salad tongs, carrying it out the companionway while it held a toothbrush in it's tail. The toothbrush was released just before I threw it overboard. Supper was grilled chicken. I looked over the stern to check the height of the dinghy above the water. Surprise! The snake was back, curled on a step of the retracted boarding ladder. I threw him away again and he tried to re-board. I finally had to dissuade him with a boathook, forcing him to look elsewhere for a dry spot. Supposedly no poisonous snakes on these keys - didn't test the theory though. 3/20/07 - Our snake visitor turned out to be a rare Bahamian Boa. Relatively harmless unless you are a small rodent or bird. I'm not too sure how Buddy would have faired. I worked about 4 hours for the park, disassembling and rebuilding a drill press. Got it working to their great pleasure. The weather is unsettled. The park reported gusts of 38 knots yesterday and today was just as blustery as squalls marched through like marauding Goths. Almost went for a swim when a gust took the dinghy airborne as I returned to the boat this afternoon. 3/21/07 - I worked at the park again today as Ruth used the WIFI connection to work on a couple of opportunities she's been pursuing. Metalworking was the order of the day as I made aluminum parts to reassemble a large frame for a tent and made a panel for a new battery charger. The pool of retired talents among the cruisers is phenomenal: carburetors, engines, pumps, gensets, watermakers and signs were some of the projects being worked on. Later in the day a cruise ship, Grand Mariner, anchored off our stern. It was a novelty for the park staff - they seldom get boats this size. We'd seen the Grand Mariner several times the past couple of years on the ICW and Great Lakes. 3/22/07 - Time to head back to the USA. We started north at 10, headed for Shroud Cay. At 2pm we arrive, greeted by beautiful white birds with exceptionally long tails. We dug out our books and determined they were Bosun Birds. The blue of the water reflected on their undersides making them look light blue. Shroud is a larger cay with saltwater creeks that can be explored, taking you into the interior of this beautiful cay. Exploring these waterways revealed palms, soft white sand beaches and a large barracuda. Late afternoon brought a line of thunderstorms with strong winds. We were glad AA was anchored snuggly in the lee of the island. Showers throughout the night provided a needed fresh water flush for the boat. 3/23/07 - Friday morning, the winds and showers continue. We caught a weather report from Highborne Cay at 7:30am - they expect this weather pattern to hold well into next week. We need to work our way NW to position ourselves for crossing to Miami. Around 10 we headed to Highborne as it was on the way back. A squall caught us at noon, causing us to double reef the main and furled 75% of the jib. The boat got a good bath. As we approached the island Ruth caught another barracuda, a feisty 38 inch'er that tested her stamina for 20 minutes. She had a blast playing it in. Arriving at Highborne we anchored in the lee of the island and took the dinghy in to do some grocery shopping... paying a dollar an ounce for potato chips. We now have a better idea how to provision before we leave the states. Rum is cheap, beer is expensive as are convenience foods and snacks. The marina is beautiful, catering to boats up to 165 foot... several were there. 3/24/07 - A beautiful morning. We caught the Highborne Cay Marina weather forecast at 7:30am (VHF weather forecasts here are rare). It looks like the 20 knot winds from the N to NE will be with us for several more days. We can work our way toward the Gulf Stream but need SE to S winds to cross it. It was time to change the engine oil - an hour's task by the time everything is cleaned up and the engine thoroughly inspected. Found and repaired a small leak at a hose clamp on the raw water cooling system. A helicopter dropped into the marina today, transferring guests from a large yacht. What some people have to put up with.

Butch arrives Ruthie's fish! Wisconsin & Michigan folks at Warderick beach Rand & Butch on Boo Boo Hill Hermit crab at Warderick "Pete" the snake meets salad tongs, by Ruth Grand Mariner off Warderick Wells, also seen last summer in Sturgeon Bay Tracks in the sand, by Ruth 'Cuda meets Barry, by Ruth Ruth poses near a Shroud Cay creek

Visit earlier portions of the Bahamas Bound trip log...