Back in Florida....

As we stay dialed in with Chris Parker the weather guru on SSB, we decided to move our plans ahead for returning to the states. A coulple of possible developing lows that could have tropical features are on the horizon so we always like to stay ahead of that stuff. Our current travel buddies on Mi Akumal.....our Italian friends from Mexico....have been with us on and off since Royal Island. They too are planning a return to Mexico via Bimini, Miami and Marathon. They took this picture of us the other night from next to us....

We spent a stormy Sunday night with them on the west side of Great Sale Cay. Monday am they were up at the crack of dawn as were we.....them off towards Bimini and us.....well.....the question?

Tuesday, our planned day to depart, showed signs of stronger than we like overnight winds and more importantly, bigger seas in the Gulf Stream. So we decided after a last check in with Chris, to head off asap.

Outboard on the rail, MJ safely stored on deck and covered, stuff stored below and we are off by 0945.

Monday gave us winds on the nose under 10, as we head westward. We anticipate a veering wind to the NW, N and NE which does not happen until finally....2300. By now we have left the Little Bahama Bank and are headed for the Gulf Stream. Motoring thru a beautiful fullish moon and between squalls well north and well south of us, we meet and pass numerous cruise ships and freighters transiting the stream. Always fun at night as one picks up the lights, then radar and AIS to determine a direction and finally a radio call to verify intentions as we get closer. 

Sunrise has us off the FL coast, rolling seas in a light east southeast wind and heading for Ft Pierce Inlet. This morning we are at the Ft Pierce City Marina and readying for a short ride up to Vero Beach.

Customs was quick and easy except that we had to catch an Uber ride over to the airport which was quick and easy....

Nice to be back in the states.....I think.....

Wrapping-up 4months in the Bahamas

The end of our trip includes our two favorite anchorages. 

One is between Crab Cay and Manjack (aka Nunjack). Even with a feisty 38 knot squall coming out of the north, putting us on a lee shore, we still love the place. Maybe, because we were boat ready, that our good feelings have even grown after that scenario. First boat near Crab's west point, dragged his anchor. Bang, the second boat to the point dragged. Sho' nuff, so did the third boat in line with the point.  That was us. 

But Ernie and I were up for Chris Parker's weather forecast and we watched the first two boats move toward safety. We had our engine going already to unload the anchor. But the squall and shifting wind/boat/and waves was too much and we dragged. The boat owner next to us was wearing a very worried look as we got closer to him. But we were on it, and we were calm because we'd had the engine already line cleared and running.

38 knots and a newly developed lee shore, one really prefers to avoid those. 

But hey. It happens. 

What a great place:

The back river at high tide, seeing a good 2dozen turtles (no exaggeration), then dropping into the water with snorkels for a drift down and seeing zipolla. LOL on us. And snorkelling off the barge wreck, a fish haven, is fun. Going out the back bay to a secluded beach protected by another island is cool for beach walking and dinghy exploration. Cushion stars, turtles, fish, abound in these shallows.

Then on to Powell Cay. This place is just too pretty at low tide, a drive-by at high. The ocean-side beach, Sea of Abacos-side beach, another beach to the north. Snorkelling a sunken boat ( two lion fish, lobster too far under the boat to reach once they hid), snorkelling a wreck at the main beach for more fish. And seeing two spotted sea hares, a yellow crowned night heron, semi-palmated plovers ( cute), all kinds of little bone fish ( the bigger guys were off Green Turtle beach-yow). 

Just too much of a wonderful environment. We leave this place and head to Fox Town on Little Abaco Island, then Great Sale Cay, then back to the U.S.

It will have been 4 months over here. A wonderful time, great experiences, great people...

A few tidbits of helpful info

Here are a couple of helpful hints when you have your canvas work done.....

Coil zippers do not work in a salt water environment. Insist on Tooth style zippers with metal sliders.

YKK #10 tooth zippers with metal sliders. Over 2 years now in a salty environment with every other month silicon or McLube spray of the slider. Perfect condition.

We roll our dodger wings back every day and hold in place with a single tie sewn into the seam....Aubrey knows how to do this.....

Again, every day we roll the ends of the spray shield in for the outside to give us easy access out of the cockpit as well as good visibility of the sails from the wheel. Zippers that join this piece need to be sewn in so as to open from the outside in so that this can work.

MJ has some playmates

.......taken the other night as we approach Abacos. A playful pod of dolphin chasing MJ our dingy.

Heading for Marsh Harbor

Will hook up once again with our Swedish British and Italian friends today in Marsh.  A much needed provision is in order. Conditions are perfect out here this morning.   Broad reaching with only the headsail, ozzie driving, flat seas and settled wind. 

A sign of heading north....

The Near Bahamas explorer chart book now rises to the top and we say farewell to the Middle Bahamas book. We have arrived back into the Abacos last night and awake this morning to the crystal clear waters off Bridges Cay on Great Abaco.....the next leg of our trip begins.....

Royal Island for the upcoming weather....Monday 5/2/16

We arrived at our desired anchorage about 1415 today....'Monday. This bay has protection from all directions except due south. Even then unless you are anchored right in the opening, you still get southerly protection. There is a predicted surge that comes in wave wise when the winds take on a southerly direction but it should only be short lived and far outweighed by the all around protection that we have. On entering the bay, we see 4 boats in the eastern half of the harbor and none on the western half....yes....that's exactly where I'd like to be. So we carefully scope out our location and set our anchor, taking into account the clockwise shift in the winds over the next 48-72 hours. Yep....we will just sit tight in this safe spot till things settle late in the week or over the weekend. At some point the winds will have gone thru S to SW and build, to W, to NW, to N and build and finally NE. So we are comfortable with our safe haven....

Looking east with the small opening to the harbor on the right....

Looking south....

Our view west and behind the boat...Lee shore is a bit close but this shore is of least concern as the wind clocks and builds. Will keep an eye on this to be sure..

Finally looking north.

We currently have 125 ft of chain out. If things get busy, we will shorten up the scope a bit. As they say in show biz...."make it big and let them ask you to tone it down".

We have a bunch of projects planed to keep us busy. Good BTC cell coverage for our hotspot so we might even splurge and watch some Netflix!

Tucked in at Current

A great sail today. We timed our departure so that we would arrive at Current Cut at slack high tide this afternoon....approx 1715.  This would allow us both high water and no current in the cut. A leisurely morning over at Glass Window with me collecting dominios stones on the beach and Bette tidying up around the boat. We left at 1415 and had a great sail across on a nice broad reach. Couple of jibes and we were at the cut. Tonight we are anchored off the backside of Current Settlement at a place called North Beach. Tomorrow it's in for provisions. Will move on in the afternoon to Royal Sound where we could find some safe haven from the up coming cold front that looks like it will arrive mid week. Not sure yet whether we will leave before the front comes in or wait till after it passes. Will listen to Chris Parker in the morning for his take on the coming weeks weather and make our decisions accordingly....