Arrived in Bimini Bahamas

We arrived at Browns Marina and checked in with customs and immigration.  Only Walter could go as I had to stay on the boat until we were cleared.  The process was quick, we were approved to be in the Bahamas for the next 3 months.  Browns Marina was a no-frills place but it did have a shower that was desperately needed by both of us and electricity to plug into.  To celebrate our official arrive we walked to another close by marina that had a special Sunday night lobster dinner.  The lobsters were so good, but I could not finish mine and took it back to the boat for our lunch the next day.

The next morning, we got up early to find the local electronics store to see if we could purchase Bahama SIMS cards and a Wi-Fi hot spot.  We found a place called Dolphins, success, we got everything we needed, and it was only a 3 mile walk round trip, on the walk back we passed a bakery bought a loaf of fresh bread and some cinnamon rolls .  We spent the rest of the day organizing, cleaning, and fixing the boat.  Along the way we realized that the outside shower had a kink in it and required Walter to pull apart the aft birth mattress to get the kink out.  While the mattress was out he took advantage of the opportunity to installed a rudder position indicator. We did not play tourist while in Bimini it was more of a place to check in and get set up for the next few months, but the boat was sitting in some nice water.

We headed out the next morning at 7am looking to get half way to the Berry Islands but it turned into a wild ride.  Sails up, sails down, wind, no wind, motor sail of just motor. It turned into our first night sail (unexpected) so the life jackets and jacklines came out just in case.  Doing your first night sail/crossing required a mental preparedness’ but as Walter and I did it, we worked together as a team. This leg of the trip was taking much longer than expected so we pushed a little further and about 12:30am we called it quits just outside of Great Harbor Cay, dropped the anchor in 10 feet of water and crashed. Next morning, 

We got up ( you will see a pattern of many sunrise photos) called the marina and asked if they had room for us for a few days. Luck would have it they did, we found the entrance to the marina and headed in for the next four days (originally two days but stormy weather coming so we planned on hanging around a little longer)

Back when we were at the free dock in Jacksonville on the ICW we had met some great folks on the boat Duchess, Rob and Allison, they were heading south as well.  So far south that we reconnected with them in Great Harbor Cay.  It is great to see them and hope to hang out.

 

So much has happened

We have traveled so many miles and seen much along the way.  We just got access to Wi-Fi for us to be able to share what we have seen and where we have been.

Vero

Arrived in Vero Beach (AKA Velcro Beach) on Tuesday in the early afternoon with plans to stay at the marina for only one night, we connect with friends from Charleston (boat name Phuket) that were staying at the same marina. Changed our plans and decided to stay two days so that we could check out the area and hang out with our friends. Vero Beach Marina is definitely set up for cruisers with laundry facilities, multiple showers, it is even on the regular town bus route, which was to our benefit.  We were able to catch the bus and go to the grocery store to pick up a few things and stretch our legs.  Taking advantage of our extra day we walked to the nearest PakMail store and shipped all our cold weather clothes home, knowing from here on out we would not be needing them, we officially had arrived to warm weather.  We continued our walk on to the beach side of Vero treating ourselves to a great lunch with our friends at a place called Mulligan’s all while soaking up the view. 

After walking 5 miles that day we ended it with a bottle of wine and watching the sunset on Phuket.

Onward to we go down the ICW, passing through or under 42 bridges in two days.  The ones that required to be opened were either every 15/45 minutes on the hour or 30/60 minutes on the hour or on demand.  This made for a race against time to catch the bridge without having to wait.  On day one of the bridge race we learned that tugs get to have bridges open on demand no matter what, so we tucked behind a small tug and made excellent time. But he had to pull off and we said good bye.

                                     

At the end of he day we anchored in Lake Boca Rotan with what felt like 50 other boats but it was a calm night and the view was great.

Day two of the bridge race we reached Ft Lauderdale it turned into a game of cat and mouse, so many pleasure boats on the water which I must say had no regard for the wake they make.  Felt like we were on a e-ticket ride until we passed the port of Miami.

Along the way we passed some might big pleasure boats, seemed like hundreds.  Clearly some folks are still doing well in todays economy.

Now down to the final leg of our journey before we make the jump to the Bahamas.  We anchored in Biscayne Bay.  A well know spot for sail boats to anchor waiting for good weather to make the passage.  Our passage window was here.  Another great sunset.

What day is it

It is the morning of February 26, 2023.  We are up at 5am for coffee and one last weather check before we head out.  As the sun started to rise we pulled anchor and headed out with the passing of the Biscayne Bay lighthouse we were on our way.

As the Miami skyline was getting smaller we were well underway to crossing the Straights of Florida to the Gulfstream. Winds were hardly found and if there was any it was coming from behind us, so we did a fair amount of motoring.  But not to worry it was a great time to put out two fishing lines and see if we could catch dinner (no luck). After about 6 hours the water turned a beautiful blue and by 3:30pm were were raising a quarantine as we could see the shores of Bimini Bahamas.  It took us 9 hours to make landfall.

We checked in with customs and immigration, we were approved to stay in the Bahamas for 3 months.

 

 

Left St Augustine on another cold morning at daylight with a goal of making it to Daytona.  

Success, we got to Daytona about 3:30pm and dropped anchor for the night. Cooked some dinner in our new favorite galley accessory, our cast iron pan.  We have cooked on the cast iron for years at home, but was totally worth finding the room to store it on the boat.  

To our surprise we learned it was the Daytona 500 this weekend, the sky was filled with banner planes and even a blimp off in the distance. Glad we were on the water.

We arrived the next day in Titusville hooking up to a mooring ball.  My first time trying to hook a mooring ball, only took two tries.  We dinghied to a local restaurant with some new friends and were able to enjoy a dinner that we did not have to cook.  The next morning, we had another beautiful sunrise.

Once underway a breakfast of pancakes and bacon was served.  The boats chef rocks!

Finished off the day docking in Melbourne and an awesome Cuban dinner.

 Great Day

It was a great day today.  It started with sleeping in until 7am, we have not done that since we started this adventure.  After coffee and breakfast we got showers done and actually put on shorts and t-shirts (no double layering of clothes, yippee).

We went to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument

Then walked around town finding ourselves at the Lightner Museum.

We finished the day with a late lunch/early dinner at the Columbia Restaurant.

Perfect Day !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Made it to Florida waters

We made it to Florida and found a free dock on Twin Sisters Creek in Jacksonville.  We met two other couples docking up for the night, come to find out they are heading south as well, so we all exchanged contact information.  Never hurts to have friends on the water.

It was a great nights sleep but we were both awake by 4am. Must be excited for our next day down the ICW to St. Augustine where we plan on staying for 3 days to be tourists and of course eat at our favorite restaurant the Columbia (Cuban food) but not before we had a beautiful sunrise to start the day.

Just before the Lions Gate bridge to get into the St Augustine harbor we got a picture of the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.

With high winds at our nose we finally made it to the St Augustine Municipal Marine, right in the heart of downtown.  We always said one day we will bring our boat here on many of our vacation week-ends to St Augustine, hard to believe that one day is really here.  So of course what do sailors do but get a drink to celebrate (not even a shower taken yet)

Note:  You know when our children were little we would take then for long stroller walks because we knew the fresh air would make the sleepy and they would take good naps?  Well let me tell you that works for adults as well, after 8-9 hours a day on deck everyday, we are exhausted, excited but exhausted.

 

Day 1-7

The adventure begins with a cold 7am departure on Monday February 6.  Our destination the first day was a creek just north of Kiawah called Steamboat.  We had anchored there many times and knew it would be a great place to hang out for the night, cook dinner, watch a beautiful sunset and a plan for the next day.

With a cup of coffee and bagel in hand, not to mention 2 pairs of sox, 2 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, hat, gloves and heavy coat we headed down the ICW (weather to go outside on the ocean was not great) toward Port Royal. 

We spent a lot of our time yakking about how we could not wait to get to warmer weather since we were so cold but nothing that a little Jägermeister couldn’t cure.  Port Royal, is in Beaufort, SC.  To work our way toward town there is a swing bridge just like Charleston that you have to go through.  Always impressive to watch it open and go through.

We decided to stay at a marina that night, giving us a chance to walk to a local Mexican restaurant and celebrate our first two days on the water with a margarite and chips.  

With a bright and early wake the next day, onward down the ICW.  We got to some of the narrowest channels we have come across in a long time.  With white knuckles we see 5, 4, 3, 2 feet of water under the keel, but the Captain had things well under control and we arrived safely in Thunderbolt, GA.  

Next day we continue heading south making our way into Georgia through Ossabaw Sound, Hells Gate and Saint Catherine Sound.  Soon to be looking for a safe place to anchor for the night where we found Wahoo River.  The Wahoo River sounds harmless enough, well, not so much.  All was going great per the depth finder when out of the blue we ran aground, Ouch!  But not to worry, after we tried rocking the boat out of the mud, putting a partial sail up to move us out of the mud, we put the outboard motor on our trusty dinghy and Walter took our spare anchor and set it about 200 feet in deeper water. As we sat and waited for the tide to come in (did I mention that the sun was setting and nautical twilight came and went) the boat started to move.  Like a well-oiled machine, I was at the helm ready to put the engine in gear while Walter brought in the spare anchor.  With the yell of we are free, I moved the boat forward to a safer place in Wahoo River and Walter dropped the regular anchor.  We were set for the night.  High fives for both of us.

The next morning we were more than ready to leave at first light, the Wahoo River had bad mojo.  We headed to the Sapelo Sound and across Doboy Sound with the rain clouds chasing us all morning.  Checking the weather apps regularly we decided to quickly select a place to anchor as a big storm was coming with rain and winds starting at 1pm.  With a goal to be anchored somewhere safe by 12:30pm we found Back River.  Navionics app had other boaters notes that they anchored there for a few days to hide from storms, so we figured it would work for us as well.  With literally minutes to spare we were anchored and the sky opened up and the rain came and came and came, as a matter of fact it came for two days.  Sunday the rain was supposed to stop but winds were picking up with gusts to 30 miles per hour.  If we decided to leave we would be faced with the Mud River a narrow part of the ICW where big gusts would make it hard to stay on course.  So we figured by this time our anchor was well set and the best option was to stay put one more day.  

Image of our Anchor drag alarm

Note: when we made the call to stay another day in the safe anchorage we also made a reservation at the Jekyll Island Marina as showers were going to be desperately needed.

 

 

Getting Ready

Christmas came and went, New years came and went, then all of a sudden our retirement began.  With the freedom of time we are in full swing of  getting ready for our sail to the Bahamas.  We are updating electronics, adding more solar, fixing sails and making sun shades but our project list was much bigger.  We are taking one at a time and marking them off the list.  I think we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

We started to do some preliminary provisioning of dry and canned goods to cover us for 4-5 months.  I made a list to be focused on needs and not just wants and tried to not over buy.  Once you see it all in your grocery cart, carry to the car, unload the car and then carry into the house so that you can prep, remove cardboard and label it was a bit overwhelming.   We still need to make one more trip to the store to stock all the fresh food (another list to be made.) Oh and don't forget there was 50 rolls of TP too, oh my!