Cruising the Abacos

Have ya'll been wondering where we have been? The wireless is sparse over here, but we have found a hotspot. I'll try and catch up, but will let the pictures tell the story. We have been from West End, Bahama, to Green Turtle Cay to Guana Cay and are currently in Man-O-War Cay on a mooring ball. All of our cruising has been in picture perfect weather. Man-O-War Cay is just East of Marsh Harbor. It is an island all of itself. There are 2 grocery stores, and plenty of gift shops with all Bahama made gifts. Albury Brothers are the most popular here, starting around the
1900's building boats. This island was established in 1716. It is Abacos answer to Mayberry RFD town as one of our waiters told us from the only restaurant in town. Clay and I were heading back to the dinghy one evening, when a lady asked us if we would like some fresh wahoo (a wonderful and expensive fish). Her husband had caught so much they didn't have room for all of it. Clay and I gladly took it off her hands. The water here is very blue and clear which has allowed us some light snorkeling. We plan on going out further to see the reefs and more underwater creatures. On our walk thru the town of Man-O-War, Clay and I had to be very careful on the Queens Hwy. As you can see by the picture, the traffic was severe (that's a joke. The only trasportation here are the golf carts and a sprinkle of tiny cars!),but I got a kick out of the sign!
Hope all is well wherever you are. Tonight Clay wants my homemade Oatmeal cookies, so I'd better start baking.
Until next time, life is still good on the waters!

We made it safe & sound!!!!

We had a perfect crossing. We left West Palm, FL at 6am. The seas were only 2-3 feet and the winds mild, blowing at 10-15. We cruised between 7-8 knots most of the 7 hour trip. Like I said it was the perfect day, until we got about 3 miles out of West End Bahama, our port of entry. Then the winds picked up and the seas became 3-5feet, but we made it in okay and were tied up at the docks by 2pm. Shadow came through the cruise just fine and she didn't even go close to the door while we were getting the boat ready in West Palm. The Marina, Old Bahama Bay, has taken on several additions since we were last here the early years of 2000, but the beaches are still velvety white and the view is spectacular. Hope you enjoy the pictures, the one of Clay & me was taken the day before we left at the Riviera Beach Marina. The other is the Gulf Stream crossing over, Clay tying us up, and the last two are self explanatory. As usual, the people and boaters over here are so very friendly and it is always fun to sit on the docks and listen to their stories. I'll share them later, so tune...
Rita-Kay, Clay & Shadow

Crossing Over

Well, we have had a nice and exciting stay in West Palm. We have been here for a week waiting for the perfect weather window to cross and tomorrow it looks like it is it. We were all planned for Thursday, March 13, but our second mate, Shadow, had different plans. It was 5:30 am Thursday morning when she decided to take a stroll on the docks and then disappear. Clay and I walked and walked all day calling her name and looking for her to no avail. Needless to say I was abit hysterical! We did one more stroll ourselves at 11:30 that night. Got back on the boat, Clay was exhaust, but I stayed up alitle longer when I heard this horrible meow and knew that was Shadow. She was across the dock, under the pier in a drain pipe. Clay ran over to where she was, I dove in with the life ring and we rescued her. Today, Friday, we let her have a lay day. She is in total shock, but slowly coming around. We think we will all be ready tomorrow. My nerves have at least settled down!!! Stay tuned for the latest adventures. I'm too tired to post pictures, but will as soon as we get to the Bahamas.

Still cruising

We left Fernandina Beach with fond memories. We stayed on the mooring ball til after the front moved through. We felt like we were on a stranded island as well as our friends, Ame & Dan. After 2 days of this, the weather changed for the better and we all went into town. Ame and I shopped, while the boys drank coffee(got cha, you thought I was going to say beer!!)Anyway, we had a great time. Ame & Dan left the next day heading North. We stayed because we were waiting for our mail and a spare raw water pump.

Saturday, March 1, we headed out at 8:45 am. Weather was great. We stayed on the inside (the ICW) to St. Augustine and dropped the hook around 4:15 that afternoon. After a peaceful evening, we got up the next morning for our next push. Got on the outside (the Atlantic Ocean) at the St. Augustine inlet and cruised 7 hours to the Ponce de Leon inlet (see lighthouse photo) in New Smyrna, FL south of Daytona Beach. After cruising around trying to find a spot to anchor out, we ended up docking at "The 'Ol Fishin' Store" I kid you not, it was an experience. It's where the boaters meet the bikers!! It was bike week there. What a hoot these characters were! We all had a good time and finally we turned in around 11pm. The cruise was great on the outside. I even got time in the sun to clean and polish the stanchions (handrails),(if ya'll are going to read my blog, I have to get you boat lingo savvy). We saw several dolphins playing and putting on a show for us. I had to borrow Dan's, picture's his turned out better than mine, thanks Dan.

Monday, March 3, we left the dock at 8:30 am. We stayed on the inside today. The sun was shinning but it wasn't really warm. I stayed inside reading. Then Clay and I studied the charts to plot today's travels. See where we can anchor out. We want to get as many travel hours in before this next front comes in. We got as far as Cocoa beach, south of the NASA Space Center. I didn't take a picture of it because it just looks like a square building on the other side of the ICW. We hope one day we will be in the area to witness a launch. They say it is really cool to watch from the waters. We found a nice anchorage spot, dropped the hook around 4:30. Clay and I had a nice candlelight dinner, flowers included compliments from Clay, on the boat, then called it an evening.