Almost there

We got off the dock in Port Royal just before sunrise to make sure we arrived at Church Creek before sunset. It was a long day on the ICW with many shallow stretches to get through.  Church Creek was a calm anchorage and made for a good nights sleep on our last night before we head home on our last stretch.  The last 30 miles home required perfect timing to be able to get through the Wappoo Creek Bridge and time the tides.  We were also racing against time as stormy weather was once again breathing down our necks with rain and winds in the afternoon.  Could not of asked for a smoother day, our timing was perfect, we pulled into the Cooper River Marina at 12:30pm.  We were greeted by our Son in-law, followed by our daughter.  Very exciting since we had not seen them since February.  Once situated we cracked a bottle of champagne to celebrate our return.

Journey comes to a end

Ever since we bought the boat 11 years ago we always talked about how some day we would sail to the Bahamas.  As life would have it we were focused on jobs, family and just your everyday commitments but when we decided it was time to retire and start a new uncharted chapter in our lives “some day”. Was here.  We did not waste any time, we retired the end of December and spent the next month preparing for our adventure that started on February 6 when we cut the lines and headed south.  It has been a world wind experience of challenges, successes and great rewards.  We sailed in bad weather testing our skills (learning new ones), anchored in uncharted territories, met so many new people (now lifetime friends), learned to be minimalists (in so many ways) know that we can successfully live together in small spaces (without killing each other) and that we are great partners that work better together as a team than apart.

May 25, 2023

We just had the adventure of a lifetime that I'm sure we will be talking about for months/years to come.  We are not sure what our next adventure might be, we do know that whatever it is (if by sea, land or air) if we are doing it together it will be epic just like this one.

We traveled 1875 nautical miles, seeing the bluest and clearest water ever!

 

Feb 6 Depart Charleston, SC to Steamboat Creek, SC

Feb 7 Steamboat Creek, SC to Port Royale, SC

Feb 8 Port Royale, SC to Bahia Blue Marina, GA

Feb 9 Bahia Blue Marine, GA to Wahoo River, GA

Feb 10 Wahoo River, GA to Back River, DoBoy Sound, GA

Feb 13 Back River, DoBoy Sound to Jekyll Island, GA

Feb 14 Jekyll Island, GA to Jacksonville, Fl “free dock”

Feb 15 Jacksonville, FL “free dock” to St. Augustin, FL

Feb 18 St. Augustine, FL to Daytona Beach, FL

Feb 19 Daytona Beach, FL to Titusville, FL

Feb 20 Titusville, FL to Melbourne Harbor, FL

Feb 21 Melbourne, FL to Vero Beach, Fl

Feb 23 Vero Beach, Fl to Hobe Sound, Fl

 Feb 24 Hobe Sound, FL to Lake Boca, FL

Feb 25 Lake Boca, FL to No Name Harbor, FL

Feb 26 No Name Harbor, Fl to Bimini, Bahamas

Feb 28 Bimini, Bahamas to Great Harbor Cay, Bahamas

Mar 5 Great Harbor Cay, Bahamas to Whale Cay, Bahamas

Mar 7 Whale Cay, Bahamas to Nassau, Bahamas

Mar 10 Nassau, Bahamas to Allen’s Cay, Exuma

Mar 12 Allen’s Cay, Exuma to Hawkbill Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park

Mar 14 Hawksbill Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park to Warwick Wells Cay, Exuma land Sea Park

Mar 17 Warwick Well Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park to Staniel Cay, Exuma

Mar 23 Staniel Cay, Exuma to Black Point, Guana Cay, Exuma

Mar 26 Black Point, Guana Cay, Exuma to Little Farmers Cay, Exuma

Mar 28 Little Farmers Cay, Exuma to Little Darby Island, Exuma

Mar 29 Little Darby Island to George Town, Exuma

Apr 9 George Town, Exuma to Little Farmers Cay, Exuma

Apr 10 Little Farmers Cay, Exuma to Black Point, Guana Cay, Exuma

Apr 13 Black Point, Guana Cay, Exuma to Cambridge Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park

Apr 15 Cambridge Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park to Shroud Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park

Apr 17 Shroud Cay, Exuma Land Sea Park to Highbourne Cay, Exuma

Apr 20 Highburne Cay, Exuma to Spanish Wells, Eleuthera

Apr 22 Spanish Wells, Eleuthera to Egg Island, Eleuthera

Apr 23 Egg Island, Eleuthera to Lynyard Cay, Abaco

Apr 24 Lynlard Cay, Abaco to Elbow Cay, Abaco

Apr 25 Elbow Cay, Abaco to Elbow Cay Hope Town, Abaco

May 1 Elbow Cay Hope Town, Abaco to Man O War Cay, Abaco

May 2 Man O War Cay, Abaco to Great Guana Cay, Abaco

May 4 Great Guana Cay, Abaco to Spanish Cay, Abaco

May 8 Spanish Cay, Abaco to Great Sail Cay, Abaco

May 9 Great Sail Cay to West End Grand Bahama Island

May 10 West End Grand Bahama Island to Ft Piece, FL

May 11 Ft Pierce, FL to Vero Beach, FL 

May 13 Vero Beach, FL to Titusville, FL

May 14 Titusville, FL to Daytona, FL

May 15 Daytona, FL to St. Augustine, FL

May 18 St. Augustine, FL to Atlantic Beach, FL

May 19 Atlantic Beach, FL to St Catherine Sound, GA

May 20 St Catherine Sound, GA to Wahoo Creek, GA

May 21 Wahoo Creek, GA to Thunderbolt, GA

May 22 Thunderbolt, GA to Port Royal, SC

May 24 Port Royal, GA to Church Creek, SC

May 25 Church Creek, SC to Charleston, SC (home)

 

 Still Going North

After a long day on the ICW about 8pm we dropped anchor, don’t even know the name of the area, it just looked like a good place to get some rest. ( St Catherine's Cumberland Island)  Up again and under way at sunrise.  The waters have been fairly calm, so we just keep pushing north but there was also a added feature to this days’ time on the ICW.  We were swarmed with horse flies.  Ok maybe not swarmed but they filled the cockpit all day.  So like any of us do I googled horse flies, what their life cycle was, what deterred them as well as what attracted them.  What I learned is that they live for 30/60 days, they bite because they want blood for their young, their season is May-Sept and best of all they like shiny, warmth and things that are blue or black in color.  We have dark blue canvas, and shiny stainless steel and of course our warm bodies, we were in a lose lose situation.  But to the rescue was our electric fly swatter.  This thing zaps the flies on contact some even make a popping burning sound (somewhat satisfying after you have killed about 100 of them). By night all those flies that did not get zapped left, just in time for the no-seems to come out, isn’t summer weather grand.

Remember Wahoo Creek (our arch nemesis) this is where we ran aground back in February, we decided to head back there a bit wiser about the anchorage and stop for the night. All went well it had good holding and was a very peaceful stop for the night. 

Up early again and under way at sunrise but this day had a added feature RAIN!! The sky started out very innocently but got darker and the winds picked up, clear sign that we were headed for a storm.  We put on our rain slickers and battened down the hatches.  It rained then sprinkled on and off most of the morning and into early afternoon. We decided we needed to stay at a marina for the night, we reached out to Thunderbolt Marina to see if they had a slip for one night, score, we were good to go.

Next stop Port Royal Marina, but not before we had to motor through Port Royal Sound.  This open stretch of water was a bit rough as the seas offshore were still crazy and it flowed into the sound with waves and strong winds.  Port Royal Marina is a great place, we have stayed here before and planned on two nights (weather pending).  Once we arrived, we fueled up, empty the holding tank and refreshed our water so we could be all prepared for when it was time to depart.

We plan on a early departure tomorrow (Wednesday) and head for Church Creek for the night and then the next day we will work our way the final distance to Charleston.  If all goes well, we will be home by Thursday afternoon.  But no fear this will not be the last entry, we plan on a final update once we get home.

 

St Augustine-again

We spent 3 nights in St Augustine. Did some provisioning, laundry, daily showers, walked the historic town every day and ate out (a lot). Just two slips down from us at the marina we saw Greg and his boat Longtail, we met him at the Old Bahama Bay Marina the night before we jumped back to the states. Just tells you how small of a world it is.

We made our way just outside of Jacksonville and was able to stay at a friend’s marina/slip that we met in the Abaco’s for the night, it was great getting visit and talk about our time in the Bahamas.  

We decided that we would set ourselves up for a overnight sail to Beaufort, SC, the next morning, it would take 24 hours but get us closer to home.  We set out at 10am to find out that the seas were rougher than ALL the weather and nautical websites indicated. We used sail flow, weather channel, predict wind and passage weather, none got it right.  We were told that the winds would be 5-8knt, with seas 2-4ft at 7-8 seconds.  Sounds good huh, nope they were so wrong, it was so rough that we had to come in at the next inlet after 5hrs. We came in at St. Mary’s GA and found our way to the ICW but not before we had a surprise greeting, a sub under way.

We pushed hard as we had really lost time and did not drop anchor until 8pm.  We are now committed to the ICW for the rest of our trip home as weather is forecasted to start blowing 25 knots for the next week. 

Back in Vero

We got to Vero Beach and secured a slip at the marina.  As soon as we arrived, we did some laundry and had some well needed showers.  With still some afternoon hours left we hopped on the bus to town and found a place for Walter to get a haircut. For a retired military guy going 4 months without a haircut was almost more than he could bare (he was not so sure about putting a pair of scissors in my hands to give him a trim.) He was like a new man after the cut.  Before we took to bus back to the marina, we grabbed a bite to eat at a Peruvian Restaurant.  This place was fantastic, will put it on our list of places to stop at again if we find ourselves in Vero in the future. We stayed 2 nights in Vero to rest up and then headed back up the ICW.  Our next stop was in Titusville where we were able to grab a mooring ball that was located approx. 10 miles from Cape Canaveral.  As luck would have it there was a Space X launch happening that night or morning (whatever) it was at 1am, we headed off to bed early and set an alarm to get up.  Absolutely fantastic sight! The sky lit up on the horizon as the rocket blasted upward, so worth getting up for. 

In the morning we set out again as the sun was rising (never get tired of seeing the sunrise) up the ICW, under the Haulover Canal Bridge through the Mosquito Lagoon (sounds like a move in the Candyland game) headed for Daytona to find a place to anchor for the night.  Mid afternoon we found a spot just next to the Seabreeze/Oakridge Bridge.  There were a few other boats there, one we had passed on the ICW earlier in the day anchored in the same area, he dinghied over for a chat.  Mark had just singled handed his boat Payton Nancy and return from the Bahamas, so of course we all had stories to swap about our time in the islands.

Up at sunrise and on the move again headed for St Augustine.  This was a planned stop, we really enjoy this town and get to go back to our favorite Cuban restaurant, the Columbia.

 Working our way home

The winds cleared and we sailed to Great Sail Cay but not before us and 3 other friends and their boats decided to have a race to get there.  We all headed out at 7am with full sails but it wasn’t long before we DQ’ed, our boat is just to slow and could not keep up with everyone, so we turned on the motor and motor sailed the rest of the way.  It was great fun watching all our boats underway, it looked like a armada we were told by other boaters.  After about 4 hours we called the race and the boat Puffin was the winner they had over a mile lead on the field. 

After 7  hours we all arrived at Great Sail Cay and dropped anchor.  The following morning we had a early departure for Old Bahama Bay Marina at West End, Grand Bahama Island as this would be our last stop before we made the jump back to the states. Once at Old Bay Marina we filled the fuel tank, took showers and had a hardy dinner with friends and then early to bed. We were up at 2:00am planning on a 3:00am departure for our 17 hour sail across the northern Golf Steam to Ft Pierce, Fl.   We woke eager to get under way as the goal was to be in Florida and anchored before the sun set.  With a cup of coffee and a granola bar in our hands off we went.  Of course it was still dark but 3 hours later we got to watch the sun rise.

3am

6am

The seas were calm and the wind was hard to find so we filled the time with fishing.  Once again all we caught was a darn barracuda.  

After a very very long day we finally arrived at the Ft Pierce inlet.  We thought we timed it right hoping for slack tide but it still had some out going water which made for a rough entry.  We still hit our goal we dropped the anchor at 7:30pm in the ICW.

We woke up in the morning and signed into US Customs using the new CPB Roam App to let them know that we returned to the US.  Whoop Whoop we were in the US again!

A little tired and fatigued we both agreed that we should head to Vero Beach City Marina (10 miles away) to rest and figure out what our next plan was going to be for heading back to Charleston

 

 

Next stop Spanish Cay

We headed out mid-morning and what do we see on the horizon but our friends on the boat Duchess.  They had been hanging out in the Abaco's visiting all the islands just like us just not the same ones.  They were heading out to make the long jump back to the states (48 hrs).  They came along side of us and was able to snap a picture of 4 Ever And A Day with our sails up and us on the rail.

We arrived at Spanish Cay midafternoon.  Spanish Cay is a private island that has a small marina.  This was going to be our last island stop before we headed to West End.  West End is on the furthest tip of the Grand Bahama Islands, a good place to jump back to the states. But before we went there we reviewed our weather window because it would take us almost two days to sail back to Florida. Low and behold the winds have changed and a weather front moved further south our way.  Winds were predicted to be 20-25kns with gusts up to 30.  Those type winds are just a little too much for our boat to handle.  So once again we are hanging out in Spanish Cay hiding from the weather.  A bit about Spanish Cay, it is privately owned and only has 2 fulltime residents.  There is a complete staff that takes care of the marina as well as the grounds.  When we arrived, we were told that we were their guests and we were welcome to go anywhere on the island.  So that is just what we did, we walked the beaches looking for shells and sea glass (found a few pieces), before we knew it, we had walked the entire island.  Since Spanish Cay is a good place to hide out from the weather other boats were arriving doing the same thing. 3 of the sail boats (Duchess, Solinity and Puffin) all arrived after us, best part is that we had all had met at some point during our time in the Abaco's (small world) so it was kind of like a reunion.

On to Man O War Cay

After hunkering down for a windstorm with winds of 40mph in Hope Town we headed Man O War Cay.  This is another small island in the Abacos not very far from Hope Town.  It had a very small harbor that we were able to anchor in with a shallow rocky inlet that we had to get through first.  This island is one of the early loyalist settlements in the Abacos and in the beginning in 1798 its residence started farming.  In 1820 a shipwrecked sailor Benjamin Albury met Eleanor Archer and married.  There are descendants today that still live there working the family boat building business, Albury skiffs.

The island is a very conservative cay that has the distinction of being the only “dry” island in the Bahamas, with absolutely no public sale or consumption of alcohol.

We walked the streets of this small island and soaked it all in, even saw some colorful flowers that deserved to have their picture taken. 

You could clearly still see the destruction from hurricane Dorian just like we saw in Hope Town.  Homes and businesses are being rebuilt but not at a fast pace.  We only anchored there for one night and then sailed onto Great Guana Cay, a short 3-hour sail.  (the Abacos Islands are much closer together than the Exumas, easy to island hop)

Once settled we headed out on foot to see what we could find.  This is another island still in recovery from Dorian, but rebuilding.  There are two local bar/restaurants that were/are well known Grabbers and Nippers.  They are both rebuilt and open for business.  Went to Grabbers for a early dinner, AWESOME curry lobster and of course we had a few house cocktails called the Rum Grabber.  Tomorrow we'll go to Nippers.