Fond memories

Thinking of my brother, Brian, on his birthday. We miss you, Brian.

Wayne has fond memories of 2009 in Highborne Cay... especially the seafood buffet on the beach hosted by the island caterer, Cool Runner, on Saturday nights. Wayne has been talking about it for days in anticipation, so imagine his disappointment when we found out they weren't doing it tonight because Joe had to work on a boat all day (he's also in the charter boat business). Oh, well - there's always next Saturday or the Saturday after that.

I have fond memories of 2009 in Highborne Cay because this is where I swam with the sharks. There won't be a repeat performance because Mom made me promise "never to do that again," but if you want to see the blog entry with photos, check it out here.

After we docked and checked in, I called Mom and was horrified to hear for the first time about the earthquake in Japan and resulting tsunamis. Our prayers go out to the people affected by this tragedy and to the country of Japan.

We spent an hour making use of the marina's wi-fi, then went for a beach walk. Before returning to Lena Bea we stopped by a boat we saw on our way in that hailed from Punta Gorda, New Horizons. Of course we have mutual acquaintances. We chatted with Karen and Richard for a while and learned that Richard is quite a successful fisherman - to the extent that Karen won't let him fish any more because they've run out of freezer space. He said that this area is one of the best places in the Exumas to fish. Richard gave Wayne a few pointers and a couple lures, so we'll have to give it another try.

Turned on the radio this afternoon and heard a reminder to change our clocks tonight. I don't know if they observe daylight savings time in the Bahamas, but does it matter? The worst that could happen if we fail to change our clocks is that we might be late for happy hour tomorrow :)

Juvenile conchs were everywhere on the southwest beach today

Hey, Pat and Don - I found our first hamburger bean ever on the beach today.

Greetings from the Exumas

After a leisurely morning, a walk on the beach, and a stop at the fuel dock, we left Chub Cay around noon on Wednesday. We opted to skip Nassau this trip and anchored in West Bay off New Providence Island (Nassau is on the north end of New Providence). We cleared customs in Nassau in 2009, spent a couple nights, and also spent a night at the Atlantis (Paradise Island) Marina on our way back to FL; it's definitely worth a stop if you need provisions or haven't visited before.

West Bay proved to be a comfortable anchorage and we had a good wi-fi signal, so we indulged ourselves with some wi-fi TV (we don't have satellite TV).

With fairly light winds on the nose, we motored 48 nautical miles over to Allan's Cay on Thursday. Allan's Cay is uninhabited except for iguanas, and they are EVERYWHERE. Small tour boats even make excursions to the island. I enjoy watching and hearing the exclamations of the kids and their parents as they delight in the dozens of iguanas that come to meet them on the beach, hopeful for handouts. Our own kids would have gone nuts over them back in the day.

Our anchorage here was calm until the winds turned to the NW during the night; by mid morning everyone else (mostly power boats) had left except us and three catamarans. We don't mind rolling a little bit and are planning to spend another night here so we can get chores done today. There aren't too many anchorage options in the Exumas with west winds anyway.

Now that we're in the Exumas we won't have any long travel days for awhile unless we decide to shoot down to the Ragged Islands; all the islands here are very close together. Finally the Captain can relax a
little, too.

Checking in at Chub Cay

Happy Birthday to my hubby!

We docked at Chub Cay around 3:00 and Wayne had to take a bus to the airport to clear us through customs. Emma and I are just sitting here waiting for him to return (we're not allowed to leave the boat until we've been cleared). I don't know which of us is more eager for a boat break, but we both hope to be taking a walk on the beach very soon! After that we'll figure out how we want to celebrate our official arrival in the Bahamas and Wayne's birthday.

Gun Cay

Cat Cay

On our way

After making a quick run to a dive shop to replace the wet suits we forgot to bring, we should soon be on our way. Don't know when we'll next have internet access, but I might be able to post from my iPhone until we make our crossing.

Sounding the Conch Shell at Sunset

Every night at sunset people in the Keys gather to blow their conch horns, and last night was no exception. A group of folks from our dock assembled in front of our boat and we went out to join them, Wayne with his conch and me with my camera. I teased Wayne afterward about the size of his little conch compared to everyone else's large conch. He responded that size didn't matter, to which I responded that the performance wasn't that great, either. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Conch shell blowing has been practiced in the Florida Keys for generations. Early settlers blew blasts to signal that a sinking ship had been spotted offshore, and native-born islanders are commonly called Conchs. The shell of the sea mollusk is a symbol of the island chain, also known as the Conch Republic.

Wayne is a happy sailor today, having made his run to West Marine and replaced his anchor. He also stopped to pick up an SD card reader (which I apparently left at home) so I am now able to post photos taken with the Nikon.

We've started to make the transition to island time by spending another night at Marathon. It's nice to have a leisurely day to get things done and not rush off. I've been able to get things done that would have been impossible to do in the seas we've had since leaving home. I made bread and yogurt this morning - the two items at the top of my list - and did lots of miscellaneous boat chores. I'm also trying to make the most of the strong, free wi-fi signal we have here; it may be a while before we have that again.

We're invited to another boat for happy hour, then hope to catch a seafood dinner at the restaurant. Considering our fishing skills, it may be a while before we have that again, too

Sometimes...

... it takes a village half an hour to dock a boat. 'Nuff said about that.

Anyway, greetings from Marathon Marina in the Floriday Keys. Yes, we're actually docked here. We intended to pick up a mooring ball at the city dock, but they were full and had a waiting list. Wayne needs to make a West Marine run tomorrow - he was THRILLED to find out that they carry his Rocna anchor and sees it as a sign that things will start going more in our favor. He also needs to get parts for a winch that broke today.

As for me, well, we've been having battery issues (resulting in "power" struggles with my husband) and I plan to finally bake some bread in the morning.

We had perfect sailing again today, averaging well over 8 knots and often up to 9.

Crashing Through the Waves and Other Issues

The day started out well, with perfect winds once again, but afternoon brought with it a few challenges:

It turned out to be one of those days where it wasn't safe to move around the boat. I never thought our cockpit enclosure would fail to keep us dry and protected from the sea, but today we had many waves crashing over the top of our enclosure and we were WET. The force was even enough to cause a major crack in our dodger (windshield).

We headed in to Little Shark River - a lovely, peaceful anchorage on the edge of the Everglades where we chose to spend the night - only to discover that we had lost our primary anchor. Ok, well, that's why we always have a spare. Except Wayne was particularly fond of THIS anchor (a Rocna anchor) and quite distraught about losing it.

There are other boat issues that I won't bother to mention, but THAT'S BOATING, FOLKS!

Marco Island

We finally got underway yesterday at 3:45. Whew! It feels so good to be done with preparations and able to just relax and enjoy the journey. We anchored in Charlotte Harbor last night, just happy to be away from our dock, and today we made it down to Marco Island, where we're anchored off the beach for the night. Perfect winds had us going about 7.5 knots and sometimes up to 8.5.

Bahamas, here we come!

After weeks of preparation, we're finally leaving tomorrow on our second trip to the Bahamas and plan to be gone 6-7 weeks. We'll be in the Exumas again and may go as far south as the Jumentos and Ragged Islands. Stay tuned!

New Journey on a Different Boat

Tomorrow morning we leave to drive to New York, where we will meet and commission our new catamaran, "Chat-Eau," and sail her to Bayfield, Wisconsin. We didn't buy her for our personal use, but to put in the fleet at Superior Charters. Wayne has more information about her and has started a blog where you can follow our journey once again, if you're interested. Check it out here.