Leaving Marathon and heading to Black Point Settlement

3-17-2013

Our last sunset in Marathon for a while.

Sunrise as we leave Marathon

We left Marathon along with David and Emma on Five Flip Flops (from now on FFF) at 8 am on Sunday 3-17-2013. The weather was calling for around 15 kts of wind which is more than we wanted, but it was supposed to be from a favorable direction, so we headed out.

We went out to Sombrero Light and turned east. We knew we would have some waves and decided they were tolerable. The weather was not as calm as we thought it would be. They Gulf Stream was rougher than predicted. The wind was supposed to be out of the west and would have been good for us. Well, instead of getting better, they got worse and I got sick. Yes, bad sick. Yes, throwing up sick. Shay talked to David about doing something different. He said he was thinking of heading back to Marathon, heading to Bimini, or going to Miami and going in Government Cut. David suggested we change our heading a little and see if that would make things better. We did and it did. Yeah. Now, not great, but certainly better. The Gulf Stream was great for speed. Our engines should have given us about 6.5 nm and we were getting 10.0 with the gulf push. Good for us. Less fuel used.

When we got to the Banks an area about 20 feet deep that goes on for miles and miles, the waves calmed down and the ride was great. I’m glad since I wasn’t much help to Shay. He did get to sleep a few hours while I sat watch. Sitting watch on the banks is kind of useless. The water is all 20 feet deep and there is no land around anywhere. The only thing you have to watch out for is other boats. We did see several on the radar and in person. They were all far off and no problem. During Shay’s watch he saw a huge boat on radar but not by sight. He kept watching but never saw it. He even got out a spot light and flashed it so they could see him even if he couldn’t see them. He said it got really close on radar and then it rained. He was tracking rain.

I told Shay if it hadn’t been for being sick, the trip over would have been rough and uncomfortable, but not unbearable. But if you have a tendency to get sick then that changes everything. We need to get a better handle on weather, distances, and getting here. Enough about that.
 

Coming across the banks was great. For miles its 20 feet deep, nothing around and very -calm. I was finally feeling better so I enjoyed it more. When we got to the Tongue of the Ocean, it was another story. The “Tongue of the Ocean” is an area that was over 8300 feet deep. Yep, don’t drop anything there. FFF saw gusts of 25 kts of wind.  The wind and waves got up so the water was rougher, but not as bad as the Gulf. We got to Morgan’s Bluff on Andros Island, around 3 pm Monday. We left Marathon at 8 am on Sunday. We traveled 31 hours.


The Bahama Banks.

This is what's left of the marker for Russell Beacon. That would be bad to run into in the dark.



This is as we are getting ready to turn right to enter the "Tongue of the Ocean". You can barely see boats that have made the turn heading south.

We got anchored and settled in.  Shay went to check in at Custom’s. The customs people came to a bar to check us in. This bar was very rustic. No sign outside, a picnic table outside, and a pool table inside. There was a man outside making fresh conch salad. We didn’t try it. We should have taken a picture but didn’t have a camera. Another boat from Marathon was there, One Eighty, with brothers Charlie and Quinn. We had talked to them at a “Let’s go to the Bahamas” meeting under the Tiki Hut before we left. Shay took Charlie in to the bar so he could get checked in.  FFF got in later and we took Emma in to get checked in.

Our first Bahama landing. Morgan's Bluff. Look at the water.

This shows where we anchored. We were right out from the water barge dock. Don't worry, it doesn't stop here anymore.

This morning it’s cloudy and drizzly. FFF is putting up a different sail, since the other one ripped. Later on, we helped Emma and David find an anchor they had dropped into the water as they were anchoring yesterday. Lucky for them the water is crystal clear. Emma and David were snorkeling, Shay and I were in the dinghy using a “look bucket” and Charlie was in his dinghy. A look bucket is a 5 gallon plastic bucket with a plexiglass bottom and it’s amazing how clearly you can see the bottom.

Shay said we need a plexiglass bottom in our dingy. That would be great.  Emma finally found the anchor and we said she gets a gold star for the day. Then we checked weather and decided to head to West Bay, New Providence Island where Nassau is located.

Charlie and Quinn decided to travel with us off we left around 1:15 heading out in what we hoped would be calm seas. The first part of the trip was great but it didn’t stay that way. David, our weather guru told us to look back at some clouds and that they probably had some wind in them, not a lot but it would pick up. And he was right! The wind did pick up and the waves got rougher, but not as bad as the Gulf.

We got to West Bay about 6 pm. It’s a beautiful anchorage with beautiful blue water. There is a hotel or condo with blue, green, and yellow lights all over it. It looks beautiful. The guys talked about waypoints, coral heads, and our destination tomorrow. Everyone is tired and ready for bed.


Our anchorage at New Providence Island



Looking at the beautiful houses and beach at West Bay.

More beautiful houses.

And more.

Sunset at West Bay.

 

We had a little rolly night but no problem. Up and ready to leave about 8 am and off to Norman’s Cay. David gave us a weather forecast as soon as he left the anchorage. Wind was 5 kts and waves 5 inches. YEAH. Sounds like my kind of weather.

 

These three boats were anchored off New Providence Island.

And there is no way to describe the water. It is crystal clear and you can see the bottom in 15-20 feet of water. Pictures can not capture it. I made a video of the water and some pictures but they can’t capture it. We saw large black starfish on the bottom. We saw what we thought were 6 or 8 dolphins coming toward us, but when they got near we realized they were not dolphin. Maybe sharks or some other fish? We did have a Norman Cay welcoming committee of 2 dolphins that came and swam alongside our boat for a while. I am still amazed by them.

This is one of our welcoming committee dolphins,

Shay with his face covered to keep the sun off. We were driving directly into and it was not comfortable.




One Eighty.



The view off Escape traveling from West Bay to Norman's Cay.

Emma and David on Five Flip Flops

We got to our anchor about 3 pm. It is another beautiful anchorage! I’m afraid you’re going to get tired of me saying beautiful when I describe the Bahamas. They are! We put on our swim suits and got in the water. It was chilly at first, but felt so good after a few minutes. We snorkeled around; yes I had on my fins, mask, and snorkel. When in the Bahamas that’s what you do. We saw small starfish on the ocean floor and Shay picked up a large conch shell that had a large hermit crab in it. The crab did not like being out of the water.


One Eighty at Norman's Cay.

We checked our anchor and decided it looked like it would hold well.  We are expecting stronger winds during the night and wanted to make sure it was well set. Emma checked out One Eighty’s and it was not set at all. So she dove down, turned the anchor the correct way, came up for a breath, went back down and buried the anchor. She’s a real sailor!

We showered off on the swim platform. I had fixed a pot of chile beans on the way and we had them for lunch, so we had a snack for dinner. We were tired and wanted to watch TV, but there wasn’t anything on. Yes, in one of the most beautiful places on earth and trying to watch TV. We tried to steal internet but on luck.

The wind did get up and we definitely had a rolly night. Neither of us slept very well. The bouncing boat and the slapping waves kept waking us up.

It was still windy and rocky the next morning but we decided to move down to Sampson Cay. We would have been staying in a rolly anchorage so decided to try the water and see how it felt “out there”. It started off a little bumpy, but the water was ok and got better as we went along. The water was a beautiful color and we could see the bottom in 20 feet of water.

We got to our anchorage at Sampson Cay about 1:15. David had told me to be ready with my camera and he was right. It is amazing. Clear water, white sand and rocky shore. There are some huge boats here. There are still people with lots of money and some of them have boats in the Bahamas.


Heading toward Sampson Cay.

You can see the tracks left by another boat. The water was too shallow and the boat scrapped the bottom all the way.

Our anchorage in Sampson Cay.

Five Flip Flops at Sampson Cay



Anchoring the boat

Wind powered generators on Sampson Cay



Beautiful island near Sampson Cay

Shay went in to check the anchor and said it looked great. That’s good to know. When FFF called the marina to tell them they needed diesel, the man said no fuel. Earlier, they had been told they did have fuel. We put our dinghy in the water while they anchored, then took David to the dock. He went to the office and asked if he could get a diesel can full of fuel so he could make it to the next island with fuel. The girl told him yes and he filled it up. He asked her how much he could get and she asked why he didn’t come to the dock. He told her he had been told there was no fuel. She looked at the dockhand and shook her head. David did get 3 diesel jugs, so he is full again. Yes, he has traveled from Marathon to Sampson Cay using 10 gallons. The other 5 gallons was to fill his extra can. Of course he sails most of the time.

While David was getting fuel, we saw something in the water. At first we thought it was a black rock until it moved, and then we realized it was a shark then we realized the other “rocks” were moving and were sharks. There were at least 8 sharks swimming in the harbor at the marina. And yes there were people snorkeling behind their boats and Shay got in the water to check our anchor.

David invited us to their boat for drinks and snacks. We took drinks and crackers and salsa. We enjoyed the food and visiting with them. Emma gave me a tour of the boat. David asked if I could be comfortable on a boat that size and I told him yes. Shay and I have talked before, whatever boat you have, you will make it work.

David told use one of the boats anchored outside the harbor belongs to a Russian mafia person. He said they had seen it at a marina in the states. It’s huge, gray, and has a helicopter. I guess if you are a mafia person, you need to have a helicopter to check you anchor or get away quickly.

Looking into the storage area of the "Mafia boat".

Checking out the helicopter.

 

BIG BOAT

Rich man's toys

We made plans to leave tomorrow morning and have a short day down to Black Point Settlement. So back to our boat to get ready for tomorrow.

We left around 8 am in calm waters. We went close to the mafia boat and took pictures. I guess it was ok; no one came out and chased us away. We had a great trip down. The water was calm, clear, and beautiful.

We got to Black Point about 10:30. Beautiful. Palm trees, white sand, pretty tropically painted houses, and rocky landscape. Yeah, we have internet so sending lots of emails out letting people know where we are.

FFF and Escape took the dinghy to shore and walked around the harbor. We saw the school, police office, clinic, Lorraine’s restaurant, DeShamon restaurant, laundromat, grocery stores. Yes two stores, but one was not open and didn’t have much on the shelves. The other one was well stocked with fresh veggies and fruits, canned goods, frozen meats, and lots of other supplies. Of course the prices were high. A small can of baked beans was probably $3.00. I’m glad we have lots of beans. We ordered a loaf of Bahama bread to pick up tomorrow. We have heard so much about the wonder bread we have to try it.

We have enjoyed meeting and talking to the locals. We met a woman, Ernestine, who's family is from this island. She told us that you would see the younger children, up to age 7, and older adults on the island. They have school thru high school on the island, but most kids leave at around 7 years and go to achool on larger islands, such as Nassau. They finish school and then get jobs and most don't come back to the island. She is back on the island visiting and doing some work. She has a young daughter that had a kidney transplant a year ago and has been at Fort Lauderdale since then. Ernestine and her husband take turns staying with the daughter and working. Now its Ernestine's turn to work.

Everyone is so friendly. They all smile and tell us hello. This island is not commercial, its very laid-back. One man told us to let them know if there was anything they could do to make our stay more pleasant. We've seen new construction going on, so they are making improvements. We've seen several people working with straw, making hats or baskets.

Several men have been working on racing boats. In about a month, there will be a big Family Island Regetta. There will be boats from several islands racing against each other. FFF said they might come back and "crew" on one of the island boats. David told Emma to talk to the natives and see if she can find out some of the fastest boats.

Going into Black Point Settlement

Abandoned building. Wonder who once lived here?

Ruby's Grocery was closed and the shelves were bare.

This grocery was well stocked.

One of the two restaurants on the island.

The other restaurant. We plan on eating her Sunday brunch

School

Police Station

Government clinic

Looking toward the achorage

Rocky

Emma and David

Here we are

More pretty scenery

The sign said no standing on the bench, so Emma sat down to check out our boats.

Stingray near the dock

Pretty houses

We will explore in the other direction tomorrow. Not sure what we will see, but I know it will be beautiful.

Tne next morning we went to shore to fill up our water jugs and pick up the bread. I talked to Lorraine and asked her about the Sunday buffet. She said it would be an appetizer, several meats and veggies, and maybe a dessert. We will probably make reservations for it.

We walked over to the ocean side of the island. Another beautiful place. We foumd a blowhole and got pictures of it. Every place we have been has been so beautiful. Can't wait to explore more islands and see more beauty.

Oceanside beach

Blowhole

Five Flip Flops and Escape

Rocky coastline. This is called the "White Horses" on the map. Supposedly they look like horses from the ocean, but a couple that came in from the ocean said they just looked like rocks to them.

 We invited FFF to our boat for coconut bread french toast and it was great! We all enjoyed it. We wish we'd bought more bread. It was $6.00 for a big heavy loaf. Maybe when I get back to the states I'll make some. If I do, I will put coconut all through the bread not just in a swirl like Lorraine's was.

We enjoyed sitting around talking with FFF and getting to know them better. They have been to over 80 countries and have lots of stories to tell. We have meet so many great boaters and have been blessed to make wonderful new friends. We hope we have lots more adventures with FFF.

We went to Gethsemane Baptist Church today. The church is itself is pretty big, but there were only about 30 people then including us and two other cruisers. Most of the members were women. There were only about 5 men and no teenage boys. There were several younger boys and a few babies. They played a lot or music and sang a lot of songs. I looked thru the hymnal and it looked like one of ours. The music was very loud and they did a lot of handclapping. We heard 3 people speak and all were women. Shay said the highlight of the trip for him so far is the church service.

Evidently, the women are the backbone of the church here. I saw Lorraine the restaurant owner, her mother the breadmaker, and  two other islanders that were there when I picked up the bread yesterday at the service.

As far as we can tell, by looking at the weather now, we will be leaving here tomorrow and going outside down to Georgetown. The wind is supposed to change an come out of the west, so we will be protected by the islands on the trip down.

Guess who pulled in behind us today? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you. Rocking B. Ken, Margaret, and Ken's cousin, Tommy, and the girls. We thought they might come up yesterday but didn't expect the see them today. We are glad to see them again. 

Rocking B at Black Point

Charlie, David, Emma, Ken, Margaret, Tommy, Quinn, Shay, Elizabeth

A group of 9 of us from boats when to the buffet tonight. FFF, 180, Rocking B, amd us. Another couple were there too. They came down on vacation from Canada and are staying in one of Lorraine's cottages. We told them they were unusual, most people that come here come on boats They found the cottage on the internet and flew down.

We had conch fritters for appetizers, fried fish, B-B-Q chicken and ribs, pizza, salad, coleslaw, baked macaroni and cheese, and rice and beans. There were 11 people total and we cleaned out everything.The buffet costed $20.00 each and canned drinks were $1.00. We bought another loaf of coconut bread so our total was $48.00.


Sunset at Black Point

All four boats plan to head to Georgetown in the morning.

Change of plans...still in Marathon

2-21-2013

Well… you know what they say about the best laid plans….  We were very undecided about when to leave and where to go and how to get Lauren to wherever we were. So….. We spent hours and hours and days looking at the weather and looking at the airlines for flights to Bimini, Nassau, Miami, and Key West and finally on Thursday we made a decision. So this should be a short blog and then we’ll start again in Bahamas

We are staying in Marathon until after Lauren’s spring break and then going to the Bahamas. We are all disappointed since we wanted to spend time with her in the Bahamas. All experienced boaters will tell you to never make definite plans that say I will be such a place at such a time. You are asking for trouble. If we had been able to get to a place in the Bahamas and then have time to make plans to get her there we would have done it, but trying to make plans to meet her in Bahamas when we are still here was too iffy.

We will rent a car, pick her up in Key West, spent some time there and then enjoy our time with her in Marathon. We’ll have a car so we can do some things and have fun.

Well, we are sad, because Margaret, Ken, Auggie, and Biscuit have left for Bahamas. We wish them well and plan to meet them after spring break. Ken went on the VHF and told Escape, Sea Salt, Ship o Fools and Slow Cooker goodbye this morning. They will be missed.

Rocking B heading to fuel dock.




Getting the last "cheap" fuel for a while. They filled up the big boat with diesel, the dinghy with gas, and then the water tanks. They are ready to head out.



Smiling faces.

Bye!

We talked to Rocking B on the SSB last night and things were going great. They were about 55 miles from Marathon. They were in the Gulf Stream and the waves were 1-2 feet. Great time for a trawler.

Lots of other boats are leaving 2-24-2013 and if we were going, that’s when we would go. So we will wave bye and wish them a safe trip. Blue Heavens, Gordon and Jeannie and Coup d’ Amour, Matthew and Julie will leave then. They are all headed to Panama and who knows where and we hope they will have a great time as they explore. 

Beautiful!

Well, today was the day to leave. Chris Parker, the Bahamas “weather guru” sent out an email saying that this was the best time to head to the Bahamas in a long time and it maybe a long time until there is another one this good. Well, we made our decision and that’s that. Blue Heavens and Coup d’ Amour left this morning for the Bahamas and parts unknown.

Coup is off the mooring! This boat stopped at Marathon for a few days before heading to Key West. That was almost 2 years ago! They are finally leaving, but for Bahamas.



Bye Coup, hope to see you soon.

Blue Heavens drops their mooring ball!

See you later!

Oh… Bubba was one the VHF this morning with some exciting harbor news, Julie from Coup won the 3^rd Annual Chile Cook-off in Islamorada last weekend. For those of you that don’t know, Bubba is Shay’s other voice on the Cruiser’s Net in Boot Key Harbor. Last year he went on talking about “snagging a baby manatee and wanting a good B-B-Q sauce recipe, since he’d heard that they were so tender and made great B-B-Q. Well, as you can imagine the harbor was upset…

We saw a boat in the harbor that we actually thought about buying. Sea Hunt. We looked at it and it was in our top 3 but it was 30 years old then and we decided if we bought it and kept it 10 years it would be hard to sell. We really liked the boat. A Canadian family have the boat, Andre, Lisa, Luke, and Pierre DuBois. We told them we almost bought the boat so of course they wanted to talk to us. Shay helped them with some lighting problems. We had a delicious dinner on their boat one night and gave them some anchorage information for the east coast. The had plans to meet family up the east coast of Florida so had to leave. We hope we meet them again.

Sea Hunt leaving Marathon.

We had a boat moor next to us one afternoon and we both realized we'd seen it before. It was Tide Hiker and we had met them at Cape Lookout when we were anchored there with Daddy. We enjoyed spending time with them again.


Tide Hiker leaving.

We picked up Lauren at the Key West airport on March 1st and had a great time with her. We had not seen her since Christmas and we glad to be back together.  
We stopped by No Name Pub and ate on the way back to Marathon. Of course, Lauren had to add a dollar bill to the collection.

She left her mark on the dollar.

The rest of her mark.

Let's put it right here!

Yes, Lauren was here!

Shay and Elizabeth pose.

See there it is!

We saw some of the little deer and Lauren had to get out and pet them.

Lauren and her new friends.

She  has them eating out of her hand!

Our friends Ted and Sally on Amici have a paddleboard and Lauren tried it out and loved it. She was hesitant at first, but after a few minutes she took off up and down the channel. She rode it several days and now wants one. She said it would be a great Birthday present. Yes we celebrated her birthday while she was here. We went out to eat with Richard and Connie from Sea Salt. Lauren had fish tacos and loved them. We all had Key Lime pie back at Escape. Connie knitted Lauren a cowl for her birthday and she loved it.

Lauren on the paddleboard for the first time.

Slow and steady does it.

After only a little time on the board, she looks a lot more confident.

She and I went shopping and she found a long dress and a “teacher top”.

We had a DeFever get-to-gether at Sombero Resort. We had a great time with old friends and new ones.  

We had a DeFever get-to-gether at Sombero Resort. We had a great time with old friends and new ones.

When we took Lauren back to catch her plane, we did some “touristy stuff”. Lauren and I visited Hemingway’s house and enjoyed it. Then we walked around town for a while. We had a late lunch at Caroline’s and of course had Key Lime Pie.


That's a strange tree.

Looks like she's found another new friend!

Of course, I started missing her before she left. She barely had room for all her stuff with her new clothes and the snacks I had bought for her. But she made it. Bye, we miss you!

We started looking for a weather window to do the CROSSING. We have met more boater friends. Emma and David on Five Flip Flops and Pat and Addison on Three Penny Opera. Whenever we get together with them and Richard and Connie, all we talk about is weather and when we can go.

Well, it is finally going to happen. We plan on leaving with Five Flip Flops on Sunday 17^th. We are leaving around 8 am. So fill up with water, go to the store and cram some more stuff on the boat, clean the boat inside and outside, store the bikes, and get ready. Shay cleaned the bottom of the boat and he was covered with "little-tiny-shrimpies".

Look at the globs of shrimpies.

I got a call Saturday morning from Chelle and Daddy had had a mild stroke. Of course, I was very upset, but he is doing great. Only stayed overnight and Chelle and Billy are taking good care of him. We talked about staying here but since things sounds so good, we will go. He will be in our thoughts and prayers.

 

We called people and told them bye and sent out emails to tell people of our plans. We're getting out of here finally!