The North Wind Doth Blow

…And the East wind, and the South wind, and tomorrow, the West wind. 

Since we’ve arrived in the Bahamas over a week ago, we’ve only had a handful of days where the wind wasn’t blowing over 15 knots, and no days when it wasn’t blowing at all. 

We spent four days at Bird Cay, and then moved to a different anchorage about five miles north, off Cockroach Cay, where we stayed three more days.  The wind blew anywhere from 15 to 25 knots, changing direction from NE to SE, and was quite often pretty gusty.  We did manage to snorkel a little in both anchorages, but there’s little to see beyond grass, sand, and the occasional starfish.  We half swam, half slogged through a foot of water to get to the beach on Cockroach for a walk.  Good exercise! Otherwise we occupied our time with boat chores.  Tommie got some good lap time!

Yesterday (Fri. Jan 26) we took advantage of a lull in the winds and made a lumpy passage south to Rose Island, just east of Nassau.  Here we had nice snorkel on some nearby coral heads to gaze at the fish.  I even spotted a small octopus!

Today we set off for the Exumas.  It had to be today or wait til midweek, so we set off into the lumpy sea once more.  We only had a 25-ish mile passage, but it was the roughest we’ve encountered in a long time.  15-18 knots of SE wind and 4-7 foot waves right on the nose.  We took a pounding.  We got to Allan Cay at about 1:00 pm and and anchorage never looked so good! There are six other cruisers here, and a local fisherman whose industrious fish cleaning is attracting sharks.  We plan to be here for the next few days while the winds ramp back up and clock around through the SW to the NW.  Hoping those sharks stay interested in the slurry from that fisherman, so we can do some snorkeling and exploring around here.  

To the Bahamas

         On Monday, Jan 15th, we moved to the entrance of Angelfish Creek in anticipation of crossing to the Bahamas the next morning.  We had arranged to cross with m/v Three Sons, who had put the word on Facebook that they were looking for a buddy boat.  Three Sons was already at anchor when we arrived and Dan and I dinghied over to meet them and make plans. Tracy and Bob hale from Massachusetts.  It was fun to hear a New England accent.  Tracy took this great photo of us heading back to Willie Dawes.  

We arose before dawn on Tuesday to begin our journey together.  The crossing was lumpy and then rolly as we headed to Bimini - a little more uncomfortable than we expected. Our autopilot got a little finicky during the trip and we ended up hand-steering for several hours.  Not fun.  We arrived at Blue Water Marina around 2:30, happy to be out of that swell.  Check-in for immigration and customs was probably the easiest - and friendliest - we've ever encountered, and we were all settled in within an hour.  

Sunrise Crossing

Willie Dawes settled in on Bimini

        We spent two nights at this marina, waiting out a wind shift, and Dan and I walked the little neighborhood streets and found a nice bakery with several different kinds of fresh breads.  He spent time taking apart the autopilot pump to track down the problem and I took advantage of the marina swimming pool.  We made plans with Three Sons to head east together on Thursday (Jan 18).  The wind is forecasted to shift again by Saturday, bringing strong northerlies for several days and we both recognized this was our window to move on. We had different destinations - they were going to Great Harbour, we were going toward Chub Cay - but Thursday night we would both spend anchored on the Bank, at Mackey Shoal.  It's literally in the middle of nowhere, out of any cell range as well as out of visibility of any land, and we were happy to buddy up for this travel.

This morning (Fri Jan 19) we parted ways.  Tracy and Bob headed north, we continued east.  Tracy sent me this picture of us as we both got underway.  On our way we spotted a group of pilot whales!  (No good pictures, sorry, they caught us by surprise.) There were at least five of them traveling together.  

        We got to Chub Cay around 1:30 and found an anchorage at nearby Bird Cay.  There are several different places around here for us to hole up from the coming winds.  We'll be here for awhile.

Key Largo - the End of our Great Loop

         We completed the Great Loop!  We left Lignumvitae Key on the 13th and came to Buttonwood Harbor in Key Largo, officially crossing our wake and ending the Loop.  What a journey this has been!  

Today (Jan 15) we will be moving to Angelfish Creek to make the crossing to Bimini in the Bahamas tomorrow.  We are more than ready, and looking forward to it!

On the Move Again

         We finally left Marathon this morning (Jan 12).  Three weeks in Marathon is about two and a half weeks too long.  We made the best of it - snorkeling Sombrero Reef three times, visiting friends, making new friends, eating or grabbing a drink at some of the local establishments.   One of our highlights was a pot luck dinner among four of the boats that made up the core of our flotilla through the Illinois locks.  Each of us made something great to share and we spent a wonderful evening together on the patio at Safe Harbor Marina.  A second highlight was attending the local gathering of the MTOA - Marine Trawler Owners Association.  Dan regularly participates in their online forums and is well-known (notorious?) for his input.  He was able to meet the people he’s been conversing with online, one of whom is the editor of the MTOA online magazine Turtle Times.  She was thrilled to meet him, as he has been submitting ideas and tips to her.  

Sol Maria, Hygge, Katmat, and Willie Dawes

Much of the time, however, was spent thinking, researching, consulting, gathering parts for, and replacing our battery system.  Dan actually did all the work, I was mostly a sounding board, and did end up helping him program them in the end.  He decided to go with Lithium, which meant doing some re-wiring and re-arranging.  This required several trips to the local West Marine store, and one to a handy nearby electrical supply place, as well as waiting for the arrival of batteries and new alternator and chargers, which came along in three separate shipments.  We (I say ‘we’ in the royal sense; as I said, Dan did 99% of the work) couldn’t have gotten this together without help from Dave on Hygge, who let us use his name and marina address, Peter on Tortuga, who has the same battery system and offered lots of advice, the people at West Marine who set things aside and also had things brought in from other nearby West Marine stores, and the people at Balmar and Epoch, with whom Dan has consulted on a near daily basis.  Everything has been installed, programmed and adjusted as of yesterday.  We’re (royal ‘we’ again) still getting used to the new system, and dropped anchor in Florida Bay for about twenty minutes this afternoon to make another adjustment, but things look promising. 

It’s nice to be on the move again.  We had an easy cruise today to Lignumvitae Key, one of many state parks in the Keys.  This one is only accessible by boat, and offers free moorings, from which there is an unobstructed view of the sunset.  We picked up the mooring around 5:00pm.  We are only a day away from Key Largo, where we’ll wait for a weather window to cross to the Bahamas.  Since the weather won’t be cooperating for at least a couple of days, we will probably spend tomorrow here at Lignumvitae.  We can swim and snorkel right from the boat, and if we choose to visit the island, there are trails to hike and some ruins to see.  Lignumvitae is marine, bird, and insect sanctuary, although we have read it is also a place where mosquitoes do not like to live.  I’m hoping the noseeums find it equally unattractive. 

It’s quiet and peaceful here.  There are five moorings but we are the only boat using them.  Such a difference from the busy-ness and crowded conditions of Marathon.  They don’t call it a parking lot for nothing!  From the harbor you can hear the Rte 1 traffic, including police and ambulance sirens, as well as music from the various bars, parks, and other boats.  Every day - sometimes twice a day - helicopters from the USCG and the CPB (Customs & Border Patrol) do low fly-bys over the boats, taking pictures and marking people’s positions.  It’s noisy and more than a little creepy to have evidence of Big Brother keeping an eye on us, but it’s probably because we are only 90 miles from Cuba.  Here at Lignumvitae we can see the stars and enjoy the breeze.  This is the kind of cruising we prefer.  

Sunset from Lignumvitae Key

Tommie will snuggle with Dan even when he's busy.

Things to see from Marathon

We are still in Marathon.  We’d done a major stock-up of groceries and had plans to collect the packages we’d had sent here, top off fuel and water and then move to Key Largo to wait for a weather window for the Bahamas.  But Willie Dawes had other ideas.

We returned from Key West to find our battery bank very, very low.  We have AGM batteries, which typically last about five years, and then without much warning, they die.  Ours are in hospice mode.  It’s been five years, and we’ve been living aboard the last year and a half.  So Dan spent a few days doing research and consulting others, and decided to make the switch to Lithium batteries, which are now on order.  Due to the holidays, though, we probably won’t get them for another week.  Dan is happily busy drawing diagrams for some of the re-wiring necessary, and making other preparations.  (Like cleaning up the engine room.)  There is nothing he likes better than a big project.  It’s a good thing he’s so handy. 

In the meantime, while we wait, (and to take Dan’s mind off the batteries) we joined our friends Dave and Nancy from Hygge on a 2 mile hike to the tiny Pigeon Key.  The entire island is on the National Historic Register and once housed several thousand workers and their families in small houses and many tents during the construction of the railroad that ran from Miami to Key West.  Many of the buildings are gone; what is left is used as a museum which plays host to schoolchildren and tourists.  The crabpot buoys hanging in the ceiling of the old dining hall are signed by the schoolkids who spent a camp weekend there.  The people on this island worked hard, were paid very little, and had to endure mosquitoes and hurricanes as they constructed the bridges that once held the railroad.  The railroad only last a few years before it was replaced by a highway.  

On Saturday, Dec 30, I went along with Nancy and her sister Patty on a road trip to Islamorada.  Nancy has a book that lists several things to see and do in the Florida Keys.  Getting your picture taken with Betsy the 40 foot lobster sculpture is one of them.  This was the main goal, but we stopped at Long Key State Park to hike the one mile Golden Orb trail, which the ranger assured us was the best hike in the Florida Keys.  Didn’t see any golden orb spiders, but we did get some good views of the ocean and a few herons in the mangroves.  Next we stopped at Anne’s Beach in Islamorada to walk the boardwalk that spans the length of a sandbar.  After that we found the Rain Barrel collection of arts and shops where Betsy presides and a friendly woman offered to get a picture of the three of us.  We had a late lunch at the Island Grille and make an impulsive stop at the Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park on the way back to Marathon.  This turned out to be a real find.  The quarry where Flagler harvested limestone (known as Keystone) for his railroad bridges is here.  There were also several nature hikes with an accompanying guide book that informed us all about the local flora and fauna.  We returned home in time for a beautiful sunset from Hygge’s marina.  

Sunday, Dec 31st Dan and I took Willie over to Sombrero reef, about six miles southwest of Marathon to snorkel.  There are eight moorings here, which filled by 0900.  The air was about 68 degrees, and the water wasn’t much warmer, but it felt good to pull on wetsuits and get in to go sightseeing.  There was an amazing variety of fish, despite the fact that the coral was mostly dead.  We spent about an hour in the water, swimming all around the lighthouse fixture.  It was a great way to end 2023.  We came back to find our anchorage had been taken, but fortunately that boat left us enough room to squeeze in behind them.  We’ll have to stay put now, as new boats are coming in every day. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Tommie finds anyplace a good place to take a bath.