We departed Fernandina, FL on Wednesday 11/4 around 7:00 a.m.  It would have been a great time to leave if we would not have had a 3 knot current going against us through the inlet.  So calculate this, we travel at an average of six knots and we have a three knot current against us; yep you guessed it we traveled through the inlet at 3 knots.  To go a few miles it took us over two hours.  I could have walked faster than we were traveling.   Sometimes that is just how things work out.

Our intentions were to do an overnight and get to Ft. Pierce.  Sometimes things just do not work out.  We were able to sail for awhile but the wind was on our stern and we cannot keep the sails full when the wind is coming from that direction.  Once we got close to Cape Canaveral it was daylight and the waves and the wind increased.  We knew at that point we would not be able to make the Ft. Pierce inlet in the daylight since we still had 60 miles to travel to get there.    

Once we made the turn to go into Cape Canaveral still 10 miles out in the ocean it was very rough.  The wind was blowing 30-35 knots with gusts of 40-45; the waves were easily 8-10 feet.  It was fine and safe just uncomfortable.  We got into the inlet and our engine bogged down, Steve put it in neutral and then in forward gear seemed okay but a few minutes later we heard a bang against the hull.  The only thing we could think of was that we may have gotten something wrapped around our prop  which caused the engine to bog down and when whatever it was got cut by the prop and when set free it hit the hull of the boat.  When the water is not clear and so rough you never know what it is lurking below the surface.

We anchored at Melbourne FL.  Steve got in the water and checked the prop and it seemed to be fine.  Of course the water is not clear so he had to go under the boat and just feel around the prop to see if there was anything on it. 

Friday 11/6 we left Melbourne and went in the ICW to Vero Beach.  Fueled up, took on water, and tied up to the mooring ball with Sapphire rafted off of Fine Lion.  Vero Beach has a lot of mooring balls and a lot of people come here.  Every mooring ball can have up to four boats tied to it.  We are hopeful that no one else will tie to Fine Lion or Sapphire, but we could be in town and come back and another boat will be tied to one our boats.  That is just the way it is.  Vero Beach has a lot of accommodations, laundry, showers, and a free bus to take you to town.  This is why Vero Beach is also called Velcro Beach for cruisers.

We will stay here at Vero Beach until Ida (current tropical storm heading into the Gulf) decides what she is going to do.  I believe the worst we will see is some rain and high winds.  We are in a great spot for bad weather.  We are all happy to stay put for a few days.

Left Vero Beach (Velcro Beach) for Peck Lake on 11/12 and arrived at around 1:00 P.M.  We never left the boat.   On 11/13 we left Peck Lake and went down the ICW to Lake Worth FL.  We thought we would leave Lake Worth on 11/14 but once again our plans changed due to weather.  Lake Worth is a good place to anchor.  They have a nice grocery store and many other stores.  Unfortunately it is the only place we have to actually lock up our sailboat as well as our dingy when we go ashore.  We have never encountered any problems only heard stories of other people having problems.  This is something we never have to do while in the Bahamas, but then we don’t stay in Nassau either.

Sunday 11/15 we Left Lake Worth around 3:00 P.M.  We did an overnight trip to Port Lucaya in the Bahamas.  We sailed all but eleven miles of the trip.  Cool!  I say that, but the first part of the trip started out as if we were in a washing machine.  Imagine that.  There is not a position where you are not just hanging on and wondering where the next wave or swell will move the boat.   As I have said before, (mostly for the Colorado family, dirt dwellers) it is not dangerous, just uncomfortable.  We are always tethered on in case it would become dangerous.  Once we got into the Gulf Stream the wind was a little flakey but only for a while.  We were sailing along so good that once we got close to Port Lucaya we had to slow down because we did not want to go through the Port Lucaya inlet too early. 

In Port Lucaya, the first thing I went for was the Conch Salad.  Cool!  It is very interesting here in Port Lucaya because the Cruise ships come into this area.  Keep in mind these people on the cruise ships are on VACATION.  They start drinking at breakfast.  Unsure if you get my drift; but they are here to go nuts and have a good time.  So we join in to a certain point and sometimes know when we should stop joining in.  They are a lot of fun but are definitely on vacation.  Sometimes it is fun and sometimes it is just a little too much.  It’s sort of the same saying as “What happens Las Vegas stays in Vegas”.   Can be a little frightening….  Yikes.  Oh Well!  We Love it!

Left Port Lucaya Wednesday 11/18 and anchored at Stirrup Cay in the Berry Islands.  We got to the anchorage at low tide, which always makes things exciting.  You know the kind of excitement where buzzers are going off every few minutes to let you know you are only in six feet of water.  We draw 5.4 feet.  We have a whole six inches before we bonk on the bottom. I just love that kind of excitement.  On the next day, Sapphire got a nice Blackfin Tuna.  We had some great Tuna Ahi the next night!

We worked our way down to the Exumas going through Nassau to get fuel. That was an experience.  We called the gas dock on the radio and no one would answer but once we got close enough we could see fours guys inside reading the paper.  The guy that finally came out to help us was not very nice.   Oh, those that know me know that I was not a very happy camper about that attitude.  I did ask one of the other guys what I did to make him so cranky, he just laughed.  It may be because we’re a sailboat not a powerboat…only took on 25 gallons.

We stayed at Rose Rocks near Nassau and from there we went around the Yellow Bank and went to Norman’s Cay, the home of MacDuffs; the place with the great hamburgers.  They should be great as they are a whopping $18.  They are good but that is a bit much.  From Norman’s Cay we went to Pipe Creek another one of those places that is tricky to get into and very shallow at low tide.  Not my favorite situation; though most places like this are very remote and nice.

Captain’s note:

Kim forgot to mention our hunting trip at Norman’s.  We went out and got one medium sized lobster and she got 6 nice conch.  So…we had cracked conch and lobster fried rice that night in Pipe Creek.  When things are right, we have some real fresh seafood down here.

We got to Big Majors/Staniel Cay on Tuesday 11/24.  When we got to Big Majors we were the only boat anchored in the anchorage.  That is shocking because this anchorage is usually very full.  The bad weather on the East Coast has caused a lot of boats a delay in crossing the Gulf Stream.  Big Majors is where there are swimming pigs.  Okay, it is obvious these pigs are just waiting for the cruisers to get here to feed them.  Steve and I were fighting over the binoculars to watch as a 25’ boat went up to feed the pigs.  Yikes!  The pigs swam out into I’d say ten feet of water and were squealing and clawing at this boat.  Made my mind up I was not going to visit the swimming pigs this year. 

The next day we went to Black Point.  I do not know how to explain this to you except to tell you that when you walk up Rockside Laundry or Lorraine’s Café and people know you by name and say “Welcome home” it is great.  We did some laundry and had lunch at Loraine’s.  Joshua, Loraine’s four month old baby is very sweet. 

We had Thanksgiving dinner at Lorraine’s and, like last year, it was great.  Those people are just like family...and they include us as if we're part of their family.   We had turkey, stuffing, peas n' rice, ham, pork, and chicken wings!  Sort of a mix of American and Bahamain cuisine.
 
Kim flies back to the US on Monday so we'll go back to Staniel on Sunday.