Fort Pierce FL to Cocoa Beach FL - Apr 29, 2017

Apr 27^th – It was a hot sunny day with light winds in the morning which increased throughout the day.  We stayed another day in Fort Pierce City Marina to get a number of things accomplished.  I washed all the salt off the boat and checked all the vital boat fluids while Maria did the laundry.  I also went into town to get a much needed hair cut.  Afterwards we walked around the town and then returned to the boat to relax.  We were invited for cocktails by Gold Loopers Bob and Helen aboard “Allez” and went out for dinner with them afterwards to an on-site Tiki bar that had great live music.  Tomorrow we expect to start our trek north along the ICW.

Apr 28^th – It was a hot humid and sunny day with winds building throughout the day.  We pulled out of our Fort Pierce slip and filled up with diesel, dingy gas and got a pump out … the first pump-out that we’ve had in a while since you pump your waste overboard in the Bahamas.  We then headed 15 miles north along the ICW to grab a mooring ball at Vero Beach City Marina.  This place is great … there’s a free bus that takes you to the beach or to town.  We went to West Marine and Publix by bus and then returned to the boat to put away the stuff we bought then we walked over to the beach and along the boardwalk.  We understand why this place has been nicknamed Velcro Beach and if we had more time we would stick around for a while!

Apr 29^th – It was a hot humid sunny day with light winds in the morning increasing throughout the day … this is becoming a trend!  We left Vero Beach and headed 54 miles north along the ICW to Cocoa Beach and dropped the hook.  We saw a couple large sunken cruisers along the way … we were wondering if they were hit by hurricane Matthew.  After a long travel day we just relaxed on the boat and had a BBQ dinner.  We have another long travel day ahead of us tomorrow.

There's lots of fish by the Fort Pierce City Marina

Our daughter Amanda gave us this dolphin tray as a gift ... we love it!

Burgers and Beer dinner with Bob and Helen - Gold Loopers on "Allez"

Vero Beach City Marina

Vero Beach

I'm hiding ... do you see me?

Flowers growing on a tree ... what?

Our Vero Beach mooring

Rafting is encouraged at Vero Beach City Marina on the mooring balls

Hmmmm ... no spotter ... is this legal in Florida?

Hurricane boat #1

Hurricane boat #2

Back in the USA - West End, Bahamas to Fort Pierce, Florida - Apr 26, 2017

Apr 23^rd – It was a warm extremely windy and rainy day.  I got up a few times during the night to ensure our anchor wasn’t dragging since it became extremely gusty during the night.  There’s a chance of thunderstorms today and it’s extremely windy thus we’ve decided to stay put in our Green Turtle Cay anchorage.  This means that we’ll have to travel farther either tomorrow or the next day to get us into position to cross to Florida on Wednesday.  We were trapped on the boat since it rained all day thus Maria read a book while I did a number of things including picking away at the guitar.  I had to pump out the dingy when the rain stopped and then it started to rain again.  I like getting a free boat wash but we’re good now, however we really can’t complain since we haven’t seen much rain on this trip.  During the night the winds really picked up and there were lightning storms close by … another night where we had to get up a number of times to ensure the anchor was holding.

Apr 24^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds.  We pulled up our anchor from our Green Turtle Cay anchorage and headed north 59 miles to anchor in Great Sale Cay which is close to Grand Bahama Island.  The weather forecast still looks good for a Wednesday crossing thus we’re making our jumps strategically to ensure that we’re ready as long as the weather cooperates.  Our daughter Amanda wrote her final exam today and she has officially completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo … Exxxcellent!  Of course we had to have a beer or 2 to celebrate her success!  As the sun dropped the winds picked up and came from the south thus we had at least 3 footers hitting us in the anchorage until about midnight when the winds changed directions and came from the west and we were protected once again.  I think we’ve had enough of the Bahama winds and we’re looking forward to crossing back to the US.

Apr 25^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds.  We pulled up our anchor from Great Sale Cay and headed 64 miles west to Old Bahama Bay marina in West End on Grand Bahama Island.  It was a lumpy ride and of course the boat got covered in salt.  Towards the end of the trip we had to cross through Indian Rock Passage which is a very shallow passage and unfortunately we arrived close to low tide.  The lowest water we saw was about 5.5 feet but it was scary at the exit since the current and the winds were against each other thus it was a very rough exit!  When we arrived at the marina we learned that they were hit hard by Hurricane Matthew thus their rates were lowered since there was no power available to boaters … but guess what … shortly after we tied up one of the electricians said they got our power working and asked if we’d like to plug in … “Yes Please!” … free power for 1 day!  During our marina stay we visited the beach, the pool and went for a walk in the area.  Afterwards I had to check all the boat fluid levels and chart a course to Fort Pierce to prepare for an early morning getaway.  The weather still looks OK for tomorrow’s crossing … keep your fingers crossed for us! 

Apr 26^th – It was a warm sunny day with light winds however the winds picked up at the end of the day.  We got up early and left Old Bahama Bay marina and travelled 100 miles north west to Fort Pierce Florida.  The winds started out light however there were big rollers on our side to start our crossing.  Halfway across things seemed to get worse with larger rollers as we crossed the Gulf Stream.  Finally it got calmer for the last 30 miles of our trip as we approached Florida.  Once we arrived we reported in to the Customs Boarder Protection Agency and they asked that we appear in person at the Fort Pierce airport.  We grabbed an Uber to the airport and it didn’t take long to report in.  When we tried to get another Uber for the ride back we ran into issue and finally after 1 hour someone accepted the job.  Once we got back to the boat the winds were blowing hard … we’re so glad we beat the winds to Florida!  Then we just had to have a cold one to relax with some dinner while I put together this blog post.

Sunset in Great Sale Cay in the Bahamas

I had to empty the dingy out twice in Green Turtle Cay ... so much rain!

Chess or Checkers ... pick your poison!

Old Bahama Bay Marina Pool

Cool! ... a 2 level pool

The resort lifestyle ... would you like a pillow?

A romantic dinner on the beach ... No it wasn't for us ;)

Aqua-Fennatic full of salt ... I'll wash it after our crossing to Florida

We made it ... Fort Pierce Florida ... 100 mile run

The current and wind caused an interesting entry into the channel

The Fort Pierce City Marina is on the other side of this bridge

In the Bahamas! – Abacos – Elbow Cay to Green Turtle Cay - Apr 22, 2017

Apr 20^th – It was a hot sunny day with moderate winds.  We said goodbye to Gerald and Barb from “Hard Dock Café” today since they are staying south for another year.  Before leaving we said “Happy Birthday” to Barb and then pulled up the anchor from our Hope Town anchorage and travelled 9 miles back to Marsh Harbour since Amanda’s flight home is scheduled for Noon tomorrow.  Amanda was tanning on the front of the boat while we were underway and continued to catch some rays for a while after we arrived.  Later we dingyed over to Mermaid reef to snorkel and Amanda was a little freaked out by being so closely surrounded by fish and wanted me to stay close to protect her from the scary beasts!  (The fish are obviously fed here since they seemed to be looking for food).  Amanda used her Go-Pro to capture some great footage and then we returned to the boat.  We went to a restaurant called Wally’s for dinner … a bit pricey but the quality of the food was great.

Apr 21^st – It was a hot sunny day with moderate winds.  We got up this morning and had a big breakfast and then brought Amanda to the dingy dock to catch a taxi to the airport to return home.  We had a great time with her and I think she enjoyed herself as well.  She’s still a speed demon while driving the dingy grinning ear to ear as I was holding on for dear life … luckily Maria wasn’t in the dingy with us at the time!  We said our goodbyes and watched the taxi pull away and then grabbed some provisions, pulled up the anchor and then put some diesel in.  Then we headed 18 miles north to Treasure Cay to stay on a mooring ball for the night.  We dingyed over to the resort and checked out the area and found that the beach at Treasure Cay is incredible!  We went for a long beach walk and started to get thirsty thus we returned back to the boat for a couple killer koolaids and put some dinner together.  It’s quiet again on the boat now that Amanda has left … we wished that she could have stayed longer L

Apr 22^nd – It was a hot day with a mix of sun and clouds with moderate winds.  We moved slowly this morning since it was cloudy with some strong wind gusts and eventually untied from the mooring ball in Treasure Cay and headed north 17 miles to Green Turtle Cay and anchored in White Sound.  We had to go on the outside of Whale Cay which exposed us to the Atlantic thus it was a lumpy ride and the boat got another salt bath.  There’s a high chance of rain tomorrow thus I’m hoping to get a free boat wash.  After we were settled in we did absolutely nothing except relax and look at where to go next as well as scrutinize the weather.  At this point it looks like we’ll be crossing from West End in the Bahamas back to Florida on Wednesday, if the weather doesn’t change.

Hope Town Lighthouse selfie

Another selfie with Barb behind us

Dingy ride to Mermaid reef

There's lots of fish at Mermaid reef

Here fishy

Don't get too close to me ... you smell like fish!

Which fish did you say is named Fred?

Dad & Daughter in front of Wally's

Mom & Daughter in front of Wally's

Us with Amanda Pandabear at Wally's for dinner

Treasure Cay beach ... Volleyball anyone?

Treasure Cay beach ... come grab your favorite chair!

Or would you prefer to go for a beach walk?

Treasure Cay marina

Treasure Cay marina pool

Dingy ride anyone?

In the Bahamas! – Abacos – Marsh Harbour to Elbow Cay - Apr 19, 2017

Apr 17^th – It was a warm sunny day with moderate winds.  We pulled up our anchor from Marsh Harbour and headed East 7 miles to Man-O-War Cay.  I’ve read that the holding in this anchorage is poor thus I snorkelled over our anchor and found that it dropped into a bit of a crevice, however I was worried about it coming loose.  I found part of an outdrive on the bottom close to our anchor thus I moved it such that it would hold our anchor in the crevice.  Afterwards we went to a nearby beach and walked over to the Atlantic side for a swim and body surfing.  Next we decided to find a snorkeling spot, however we didn’t find any spots worth bragging about.  Then back to the boat to catch some rays on the front while listening to some tunes.  Amanda’s mission while she is here is to work on her tan.  We wish our son could be here with us … it’s his birthday tomorrow and this will be the first time we won’t be around to celebrate it with him L

Apr 18^th – Happy Birthday Sean!  Our son is 26 years old today and this is the first year we haven’t been there to celebrate his birthday … we’ll have to celebrate all the missed birthdays when we get home.  It was a hot sunny day with moderate winds.  We went for a dingy ride with Hard Dock Cafe to visit the town on Man-O-War Cay and walked around the town and along the beach on the Atlantic side and then had an ice cream.  After we returned to the boats we pulled up our anchors from our Man-O-War Cay anchorage and moved 6 miles south to Elbow Cay.  We found that another Canadian boat that we had met earlier in our trip was anchored there as well thus we invited them (Harley and Janice on Folly) with Barb and Gerald for cocktails.  Then a BBQed dinner followed by cards (Golf) with Hard Dock Café to end the evening.  Another action packed day.

Apr 19^th – It was another hot and sunny day with moderate winds.  I was running our water maker as we ran the generator this morning and I actually overfilled the tank … a bit of a surprise since the 3 of us had showers yesterday.  It’s nice not to have to conserve water when you can make your own.  We went for a dingy ride with Hard Dock Café into Hope Town to visit the light house and then walked through town as well as along the beach on the Atlantic side.  We had lunch at a local place called Munchies and bought some coconut bread at Vernons and then headed back to the boats.  The winds have been relentless thus it appears that we won’t be able to get our daughter Amanda to any of the key snorkeling sites before she has to leave but we did go to a snorkeling site close by over some sunken boats and other wreckage.  We did see lots of fish and Amanda got to play with her Go-Pro camera, however the water clarity wasn’t as great as we’ve seen it, most likely because the winds and the waves have been stirring things up.  This will be our last night at this anchorage then we’ll need to head back to Marsh Harbour since Amanda flys home on the 21^st.

Snorkeling with Amanda's Go-Pro

Dingy ride in the Bahamas

Relaxing in the Bahamas

Amanda in Man-O-War Cay

Aqua-Fennatic and Hard Dock Café on Man-O-War Cay beach

Aqua-Fennatic and Hard Dock Café from Hope Town lighthouse

Hope Town

Hope Town mooring balls

Amanda enjoying a Hope Town beach

OMG ... Maria let someone else take a picture today!

Anchored by the Hope Town lighthouse