Thursday April 10: Great Sale Cay

It was a 6:15 am alarm time for an early morning departure from the West End. The winds had calmed and were finally around to the east – time to head out! The destination was Great Sale Cay – 56 miles so about 8 hours. We followed Surona and four other sailboats out of the harbor.

One thing we are learning: the Abacos aren't really just a short 80 miles from Florida. After crossing the gulf stream, we are in the Bahamas but that's just the start! From the West End there is another almost 100 miles to the REAL part of the Abacos that everyone talks about – where the snorkeling and diving in crystal clear water is what we are looking for.

Regardless, it was a beautiful morning and east winds are predicted for the next week giving us time to trek the 100 miles to the real Abacos :-)

The first few miles were a little tense as the channel isn't deep enough for Surona (Peter and Cheryl's sailboat that draws 5.5 feet) unless we are going through at mid tide or higher. No problem though – we are their back up tow boat :-)

Once past the shallowest areas, we headed off as our speed is about a mile an hour faster than Surona so in an 8 hour day, we can shave an hour + off of the travel time. Gives Steve time to make a nice appetizer of fried conch. In the meantime, he spent some of the day reading on the flybridge and Surona travels in the company of one of the sailboats from the marina that left about the same time as us.

Of course you know he is fishing as we travel, right? So today it was five times that I heard the reel do it's “zing” thing – which means he has a fish on and it is pulling line out. Slow down until he reaches the back of the boat, then just keep the boat headed into the waves. First 3 times it was a small jack – too small to eat but still fun to catch. Last time? A barracuda! Yikes! Fun to catch but nasty, nasty teeth and no good to eat.

His fourth fish, though, was a very nice Spanish mackerel. Great to eat so once we were in and anchored for the night, I cleaned it. Great dinner – how can you beat fresh fish?? Peter and Cheryl dinghied over and joined us for the meal bringing the rice and veggies. There were lots of red peppers but I managed to avoid eating any :-)

Surona is anchored behind us and we saw the ketch that used to be owned by Walter Cronkite come in and anchor. The folks on it are Canadian and are traveling with one of the sailboats that made the trek over to Great Sale Cay with us today.

Just an FYI: the word cay is pronounced key. Not sure why the change of spelling from the Florida Keys to the Cays of the Bahamas ….. whatever :-)

Will sleep well tonight in a well protected anchorage with good holding.

Wednesday April 9: I Think We're Out of Here!

The winds last night and today were a bit crazy. Last night about 7 pm the winds were gusting to 35 mph out of the SW and then the W overnight. Was I ever glad we had waited!!

Today was a nice sky but again fierce winds from the W. Steve and I rode out to the shore side of the upscale housing development this morning to check out the wave action. It was crazy!

The nice thing was it was low tide so Steve of course had to check out all of the tidal pools among the coral shelf that extends probably a hundred yard from shore.

He's in the picture above but as just a speck on the left side of the picture.

The waves appeared to him to be about 6 or 7 feet and he could feel the wave as it broke on the coral.

The power of this water is amazing.

The day consisted of Steve riding into the Settlement twice for supplies (and more conch of course :-) ). I finally finished my book ... on to the next !

Tomorrow the winds will have diminished and will be from the NE, changing to the East. Almost all of the smaller boats left here (all sailboats except us) will be leaving just before daylight and heading out at close to high tide.

Seems that they think we should lead the way through the channel, which can be shallow, as they all draw at least a foot more than our 3.8 foot draft! Ok by me - saves me having to pass them along the way :-)



One last picture: birds of paradise here at the marina. Made us think of the trip to Home Depot with Wendy to pick up the birds of paradise plants that are now in the back yard of their home in Encinitas. Very fun memories - thanks, kids!!

Tuesday April 8: Still Enjoying the West End ....

Time to fish! Or at least attempt to fish. One guy Steve asked assured him that there are fish just about anywhere "out there".

But it was too rough to go out very far onto the unprotected waters of the Atlantic so we settled for the much calmer waters north of the marina breakwater.

It's very shallow for most of the waters surrounding Grand Bahama Island to the north (which is where we are headed) which is good for boating but bad for fishing.

We gave it our best shot though - as did Peter. He was mostly trolling and we were mostly still fishing - using an anchor to keep us steady and in one place. The thought was that fish need structure, right? Someplace to hide. So let's go near the rock retaining walls of the marina.

Finally - we were catching! But just little grunts mostly. And I do mean little. Definitely not on my list of things to clean - I don't care what Dave or Werner would say :-)

So we headed back into the protection of the marina breakwalls as the wind was still producing some fairly large waves. It's called surfing most of the way in on the three foot waves. And then the engine that could - couldn't. Dead in the water. Toss out the anchor. Get out the oars. Steve did a heroic job of getting us back to our slip against the wind that was trying to blow us to the rocks! Next job: fix the little engine ....

There was a small beach and breakwall on the other side of the marina - well protected from the wind and waves so we snorkeled there. Steve went back today and found better stuff. Starfish and small grunts were mostly what we saw.

Our expectations for the REAL snorkeling are quite high! Later in the trip ...

Today was another trip to town. Good exercise and Steve was after some conch. Why not just buy some from the conch guy and make chowder?

Great idea! But a breakdown on Cheryl's bike .. can Peter get it fixed or will he have to walk back (while Cheryl rides his bike of course - he's just that kind of guy).

No go on the fix-it-job but a great solution by Steve: just tow Peter using the two bike cables from our bikes! Worked like a charm although Steve accused Peter of putting on the brakes part way back :-)

Regardless, we did make it to the conch stand and for $2 each picked up 4 conch - cleaned and ready to be used. This is a pile of conch shells nearby - and there are probably half a dozen that we saw along the road. Only native Bahamians are permitted to harvest the conch now. Ok by us - we'd never get them out of the shell anyway!

It wasn't long after we arrived back at the boat and Steve was hard at working making the conch chowder.

It is excellent!! Back tomorrow though for more conch - he's thinking maybe a dozen so there will be some for the freezer.






One of the guys at the marina happy hour tonight had this t-shirt on. This is very much how our sailboat lingo goes! You'd think we'd learn a thing or two from Peter and Cheryl but apparently we haven't yet. (Be sure to click on the picture to make it bigger.)

I think the terminology works just fine myself :-)







As peaceful as the marina looked when we returned about 1 pm, the strong winds we knew were coming ....came. Gusts up to 35 mph. Not horrid but definitely not something I want to be anchored out in.


Tomorrow? Not sure. Winds have changed from S to SW and then tomorrow to the W and finally to the N. Once they change to E on Thursday, out we'll head. Along with everyone else in the marina from what we hear!

Monday April 7: Still at the West End!

We are still docked at the West End .... for a couple of days more! There is a cold front traveling across the southern states that will impact the weather here tomorrow and Wednesday. North winds again - those pesky north winds!

If we left here Sunday (a nice day to travel as would today) we would have no where to go - either at anchor or to a marina - that would protect us from the predicted high 20 mph (gusts in the 30's) that are due in Wednesday night - like at midnight. Dealing with shifting winds at midnight just isn't our thing.

So we went for a bike ride instead! The guys are already around the corner. How can they go so fast when there is so much to see along the road?

The West End (also called Settlement Point) has many building that we assumed were damaged as the result of the hurricanes that come through the Bahamas - the most recent was Wilma in 2005. It hit the western end of this island particularly hard .. and the buildings still stand abandoned and half destroyed.

Still there are quite a few bar/restaurants along the main highway (which eventually would lead to Freeport) concentrated on about a half mile along this highway.

We passed a half dozen churches as well.

Peter of course was drawn to this church's bus ....

In search of "some lady who sells ice cream out of her home" we continued riding, riding, riding ... until I said that's it. No more riding for me so I just pulled over. No problem. They would be back eventually.

It wasn't actually too long before they turned around also as it seemed the town sort of ended. Before their arrival I looked up and thought perhaps I didn't choose a very good place to stop as I peered up at a dozen coconuts hanging in the tree above me! So we rested a few minutes and headed back.

Not wanting to miss lunch, we decided to stop at the conch salad stand. What a find!

Talk about fresh.

One guy was outside the stand cleaning the conch. Quite interesting to watch. First pound a small hole in the end, cut the conch with a knife and then pull it out.

Now clean the conch of it's outside "skin" so what you have left is just the meat of the conch. Wonder how much saturated fat is in conch meat?

Actually very little (amazing the information you can find on the internet).

So once the conch is cleaned, the other man in the stand chopped it up, added not sure what all - but lots of lime juice. Voila - super fresh conch salad!









Of course we still had to find the lady who sold ice cream for Peter and Cheryl.

After asking a few times, we finally found her!

The kids LOVED Cheryl's bike! Guess they hadn't seen a clown bike before :-)

Anyway, Cheryl gave them the ok to try it and it was definitely a hit. Both the girl and the boy just had to try it out!

Everyone here is very friendly and the kids super polite. Some of the newer homes are quite nice. Others are sufficient but small. The school we rode by was functional but nothing like the schools in the states.

This is the beach on the north side of the resort by our marina. What's not to like ......

Sunday April 6: West End, Grand Bahamas Island - We Made It!!

At 5:10, it was still dark when we untied and left the marina. No lack of lights of course but it was still interesting making our way north on the ICW to the Port Everglades opening - a distance of about 5 miles with two bridges (which we fit under).

Peter and Cheryl had moved closer to the opening on Friday so as to avoid having to deal with the opening of the bridges.

The plan? We would be at the port opening around 6 am.

Good plan - no one told us about the three cruise boats coming in as we were wanting to go out!

On marinetraffic.com (which shows the position of any ship/boat if they are broadcasting their position on AIS - Automatic Identification System), we could see the 3 ships were approaching the port.

By the time we arrived one was already in it's dock, one was backing into it's dock as we were approaching and the third HUGE one was just backing up in the channel as we were passing it to make our way out.

We could see Surona on the AIS site. They had been delayed by the cruise ships coming in so our timing was almost perfect. Out we went!

Sunrise shortly after 7 am was a welcome site. There is something about boating in the dark that just doesn't agree with me :-)

It wasn't long before were away from the congestion of Port Everglades and headed out to sea.

The seas were as promised: 2 to 3 feet, an occasional 4. Long swells but rather confused for the first few hours.

We traveled within sight of Surona most of the morning and as the day wore on we ended up just a bit in front of them.

The light winds out of the south continued and allowed Surona to motor sail which added to her speed.

At one point we looked back and Surona had stopped - floating with the wind and waves.

Cheryl called: Peter had a fish on! By Cheryl's description, we knew it was a dolphin fish.

What a great job they did getting it in the boat!

But we had the cooler full of ice so they passed the fish over via a line thrown to us. I say possession is 9/10 of the law, right?

Steve had two lines out for most of the 11 hour trip but sadly didn't catch anything. He thought a tuna might be a very nice compliment to Peter's dolphin!

He was fishing with a rigged ballyhoo (small fish with a large hook in it). When he pulled it in, he found that something had bitten the end of the ballyhoo but missed the hook!

Maybe next time ....

As we finally sighted the West End, it was time to raise the yellow quarantine flag. This flag has to be flown until customs has been cleared.

We were ready to make our way into the marina, clear customs and spent the night.

And we finally have a stamp in our passport!!! We've had the passports ever since they were required to travel to Canada but this is the first place we've been that actually stamped them.

How cool is that? 64 years old and we finally have a stamp. Maybe that's actually sad ......





Once we cleared customs, our Bahamian courtesy flag is now flying. It's now time to experience the Bahamas!!

Saturday April 5: Today Is the Day!!!

No pics - just a quick blog that the time is finally right. Winds from the south less than 10 knots, waves are long rolling swells.

We left at 6 am this morning (clearly this is a timed post :-) ) and will arrive at the West End of the Northern Bahamas by 3 or so in the afternoon.

Blogging will be spotty as the internet is accessible is way less places (we could use our Sprint Mifi but it would be a zillion $$) but will keep up as much as possible.

Looking forward to crystal clear waters and great snorkeling/diving!

Wednesday April 2: Waiting .....

Steve said he heard the unmistakable sound of the Goodyear blimp flying overhead the other day - dag he was right again! It's getting to be a habit!

These blimps flew directly over our home in Sagamore Hills when we lived there as we must have been on the flight path from Cleveland back to Akron which is where the blimps are based. And their sound is indeed unique. Not a plane or helicopter sound - kind of like a giant rubber band :-)

Here it is Wednesday and here we are still in Hollywood. The weather for today stayed at 3 foot waves so we passed on it.

Don't get me wrong - 3 foot waves are ok .... but not ok for a 10 hour run across to the Bahamas. Mind you, the prediction of three foot waves is the average of the highest 1/3 of the waves. What is the height of the OTHER 2/3???

Regardless, in the meantime Steve defrosted the fridge and freezer. And while he was at it, decided the fridge wasn't sealing correctly. Clean it up, get out the glue gun. Worked perfectly! Now the fridge won't run as often which of course is a good thing.

Entertainment abounds at this marina though. The public boat launching ramps are right behind us and honestly are not normally so entertaining as when this poor guy somehow ended up in the drink.

I felt really sorry for him - at least it happened as he was taking the boat out of the water so hopefully this came after a great boating day for him!

We ride somewhere every day. I think I have ridden my bike more here than in the entire 3 months at Marathon (everything is pretty close there). Six miles round trip to Walmart or the GOOD Publix grocery store (there is one that is only two miles round trip but it's just not as good per Steve).

The Hollywood Beach Theatre and Boardwalk is only a little over a mile round trip so running over there is very easy.

Went last night to the show (it was an oldies Rock and Roll night). Very good but some of the stuff was for people way older than us - and there were plenty of folks older than us for sure!

Steve actually went swimming this afternoon as we sat on the beach under the shade of a palm tree reading and napping. The most relaxing day in a long time!

The days are beginning to blend. A routine has been set. Breakast in - or every few days we'll bike to the beach. A ride to one store or another in the cooler mornings. Maybe a project or two. Dinner on either Surona or here on Yesterday's Dream.

Steve and Cheryl are both great cooks and usually combine on dinner. Then either cards or not. The women have been killing the guys in Euchre so I'm not sure how much longer they will play :-)

The bike rides seem to always produce something of interest or something strange. Like this home that has the address in neon lights. Who would even think of doing that???

Or looking for the budgies that Steve keeps trying to get in a good picture. They are wild parrots that live in Florida. Seems they like to nest in the palm trees. One of these days he'll get one that is facing forward!

And of course there is always the sunset. It's not over the ocean of course but with this as the view from the flybridge, I don't feel the need for a green flash :-)