Tuesday May 28: Yesterday's Dream is Put Away!

Looking back at Banana Bay .....

It was finally time to move to the ocean side of Marathon. We were leaving Yesterday's Dream at Driftwood Marina again.

Same place as we left the boat in 2017. Same place where Hurricane Irma decided to roar through the Keys and toss the boat around on shore a bit :-)  We are NOT expecting the same result in 2019 as last time :-)

The wind was blowing out of the East for several days so we had to delay our exit from Banana Bay until the winds died down a bit. It was about a 3 hour trip around to Driftwood and we needed time to get the boat ready to sit for the next 5 or 6 months.

Fortunately, we were able to just dock at the marina on Memorial Day as the marina was closed for the holiday and could complete what needed to be done: flush the engine with fresh water, prepare the dinghy engine and generator to sit unused for 5 months, clean out fridge and freezer, remove the window covers and replace with cardboard to help keep the sun out, take down the mast, take down the flybridge canvas, cover the flybridge and tie everything down 'just in case' of high winds!

On the hard for hopefully the entire season :-)

We had allowed a day and a half to do this and it took all of that amount of time. Most completed by Steve of course. He definitely gets so much credit for getting things done.

Also we packed whatever we needed (mostly clothes, passports, Canadian money) to move to Ontario and onto Guppy for the summer.

This morning bright and early the guys came with the lift to pull us out. After a quick powerwash of the bottom, it was off to Yesterday's Dream's spot for the summer.

Last job before leaving?

Cover and prepare the Keys cruiser for the summer. This little 2003 Corolla has been just what we needed down here :-)

Something reliable to get around in but not very expensive to keep and maintain. Perfect!

Once the car was dropped off we headed north to Ft. Lauderdale for a morning flight to Cleveland.

Spend a week and a half at the farm with my brother Tom who is in from Arizona for 2 weeks and then continue on to Ontario to uncover and move aboard Guppy.

Wednesday May 22: Home .....

We left Hollywood on Monday - staying inside the ICW rather than going outside to avoid the bridges.

There weren't very many bridges left until we hit Biscayne Bay and the thunderstorms were still around the area. Somehow we managed to get all of the way south of Miami and at that point the storms just seemed to fall apart.

We were happy about that :-)




Our destination was the island of Boca Chita Key in the Biscayne National Park.

For info about the Park, click here.

For info about Stiltsville, click here. Quite a weird place to live!!!

The place was almost empty (definitely NOT the case if you go in  on a weekend!) Us, a sailboat and a catamaran.

It was very much like being in Canada on the Trent except for the large palm trees all over the place :-)

It was pleasant reading under the shade at the picnic table near the boat.

After a warm but pleasant night, Steve had his umbrella out and was making tea and hot chocolate in the morning.

Breakfast was on board though. It's just way easier :-)

The lighthouse was not open sadly but we were able to go up it last time we were here (quite a number of years ago).


We headed out shortly after breakfast. The east winds were blowing and would be blowing every day even stronger - time to head to Marathon!!

It was going to be another perfect travel day - and no storm in the weather prediction!!

It was still 80 some miles to Banana Bay so we decided to travel a short 40 miles to Upper Buttonwood Sound to an anchorage that would protect us from the SE winds which were blowing all night.

It took trying two spots but we were happy with the second one. By morning the wind had died down to nothing!

Upper Buttonwood Sound - on the Florida Bay side of Key Largo

About 45 miles left. Breakfast was on the way so we were up and moving by 7:30 or so. Both of us were tired and anxious to get the boat home :-)

Finally about 2:15 pm we were approaching the entrance to Banana Bay. Back where we started from a short 7 weeks ago :-)



The trip over the past three days.















Now it's time to put the boat away and move north!

Sunday May 19: Enjoying Hollywood :-)

When we left Lake Worth, it was a really nice day - unlike the previous day. Although in all fairness, it was only after 4 pm yesterday that the weather went straight downhill!

It was about 54 miles to Hollywood with at least a zillion bridges - many of which we would need raised. The tide was going out - 3 feet of tide - which slowed us down but also allowed us under some of the 22' bridges (we need 21 feet to clear the mast). Neither one of us is mentally strong enough to attempt to go under a 22' bridge!!



I was just so happy to be able to stand up while we were underway and not have to be holding onto anything!!

It was a novel feeling after the trip from the West End :-)



One thing there are lots of in this area (from Palm Beach south to Miami Beach) are yachts. So many yachts. It continues to amaze us that there can be so many people with so much money. In some of the marinas, the docks full of these huge things are just one after another.

The homes lining the waterway are of course just as massive. It's enough to seriously wonder what in the world is wrong with people!

It's quite rare to see one of these yachts moving or traveling. Mmmmm ... maybe they just need some crew to help out! My next job??

Most of the bridges are just a pain to go under but there are some in Fort Lauderdale that are actually entertaining - super art work by very talented people.

Still the novelty of even the painted ones wears off after about the twentieth bridge or so :-)





We were happily in and tied up on Tuesday by 4:30 pm. Not a bad day but yes, long. But not as long as the previous day!!!

The weather prediction for the next several days was not great - with thunderstorm predicted every afternoon.

The first one rolled in right on time Tuesday early evening.



So we decided to just stay a while. First we were tired. Second who wants to travel with thunderstorms and third no one in their right mind would be on the waterways around Ft. Lauderdale or Miami on a weekend!

Time for Enterprise to pick us up! We waited, and waited. The marina guy says he sees that a lot - "they tell you five minutes and it takes an hour."

And we laughed - it was funny the first time. By the fourth or fifth time I wanted to just smack the guy! Yes, it took an hour ....

So we went to breakfast at the beach and at a couple of diners. None as good as the Conch in Marathon :-)

We also made it to a show. Saw Shazam - it was fun, entertaining. The theater had power reclining seats and that is always fun!!

I'm not sure where the rest of the time went but it's now Sunday and we turn the car in tomorrow morning.

It's time to head south back to Marathon. We've changed plans a bit as Driftwood Marina had room for us (when we left in April Shelly didn't have any spots for us).





Lesson Learned (yet again the hard way): NEVER TIE A LINE FROM THE RAILING TO A POST when you have 3 feet of tide.

It was just temporary - the satellite does well if the boat goes up and down but not so well if the boat  is moving side to side. So Steve was kind enough to tie us tightly to the side pole so I could watch American Idol.

In the middle of the night we both woke up with a quite loud sound of wood breaking. Oops - forgot to untie the 'temporary' line.



Result? 2 more breaks in the railing ....  Good thing Steve became so proficient in repairing this railing as a result of Irma because he had the opportunity to practice that skill again :-)












And once again did a great job!!! A few more coats of Cetol and it'll be almost good as new :-)

Wednesday May 15: Hollywood Fl !!!!!

Leaving the West End

Monday morning we left the  West End Bahamas at 6 am. The sun was not up yet but it was plenty light enough to go.

Breakfast on the way as we wanted to get a good start of what we thought would be a 70 mile, 10 hour trip to Lake Worth.

The wave prediction was to be 1 foot on NOAA, 2 foot on other sites. We choose to believe the 1 foot :-)

As we started out, the waves were very confused - they just didn't know which way to go! I lost my cup of coffee after about 1 minute out.  The stools fell over about 10 minutes out.

This just didn't seem right but might as well continue at least for a while to see how it settled. Two boats in the marina left after we did.

So definitely 2 foot waves with the occasional 3 and 4 foot but not really too bad. The winds were from the SW so not broadside which is THE WORST!!

Finally by the time we were halfway the sun was out and the waves had settled to a consistent 1 1/2 to 2 feet with an occasional set of 3 larger swells coming from a slightly more westerly direction.

There were even naps on the flybridge :-)

And then came the challenging part of this trip. We were only 14 miles out of the Lake Worth inlet (so 2 hours for us) when the storms came rolling off of the coast. I mean lightening, rain, wind. We went south for a while just holding our position trying to figure out the best way to go. Impossible to outrun of course (we tried that once on Lake Michigan :-) ).

Finally we headed in between two of the darkest areas toward a lighter part of the sky - still in general headed west. And then we ran into the worst rain/wind we have ever been in in the 10 years that we have traveled almost 25,000 miles on this boat. It lasted only maybe 10 minutes and we came through with canvas still intact!!!

In the meantime, in the worst of the storm, the GPS lost connections with it's satellites! It was one of those moments where you think REALLY??? Do we need this??? Fortunately we do have a backup on the computer so Steve went down and got that going while I tried to reset or reboot the GPS. I just kept heading West as we knew the shore was that direction. And to think that I considered removing that compass from the flybridge!! Who ever used it anymore :-)

And the rains just kept coming. Couldn't hardly make out the building that we know are there :-)

Anyway a long story a bit shorter: we eventually found the inlet we were looking for (Lake Worth is a Class A inlet - the best kind) and making use of the charts still available on the GPS found an anchorage about 15 minutes inside the inlet.

What a last two hours .... by the time we were in and anchored it was 6:30. Way past docktail time!!!

So all's well that ends well. We'traveled the 50 miles to Hollywood today and will be here until Monday. Storm/rain around most days so we'll enjoy our time just staying put for now. Maybe rent a car for a few days - I feel a need for some good Chinese :-)

Sunday May 12: West End - The Plan: Cross Tomorrow to Florida!

We waved so long to Randy and Cindy as we pulled out of Orchid Bay Marina on Tuesday morning with a destination of Black Sound on Green Turtle Cay.

Crossing through the Whale passage (which can be downright dangerous under the wrong circumstances) was a non issue for us. Fairly high winds were due in the next day so we decided to just stay at Donny's Marina a couple of days.

Steve walked the advertised '10 minute walk' to town in what he thought was more like 20 minutes! Of course :-)

Lots of no-see-ums in this area. I'm thinking it's the mangroves which are all along the shore! First time we've encountered them during the day like that. Let's hear it for air-conditioning :-)

And of course a change of plans! Wendesday ended up being a beautiful day with low winds until the evening so we left Donny's and headed out to Manjack Cay - a short 7 miles away.

We tried the ocean side to see if we could find some coral heads for Steve to snorkel around but it just wasn't calm enough sadly.

The anchorage here didn't look that great given the winds that were coming in so we decided to just continue on 20 miles to Crab Cay. This was a nice place that we stopped at on the way in a month ago.

It would be perfect for the East winds that were due in for a few days.

Crab Cay is marked at the east end of the orange line. We are headed back to the West End and then to Florida and so are basically reversing our path from last month.

Again, plans change. The 2 nights at Crab Cay turned into one night and then on to Great Sale Cay. It's now Thursday morning and it looks like Sunday may be a possible crossing day so instead of staying a second day we just headed out the 46 miles to Great Sale Cay.

Somehow the rains followed with us most of the day. It wasn't always raining but I was VERY glad once again that we had a covered flybridge with 3/4 plastic around it :-)





Steve of course thought that fishing as we passed by Great Sale Cay on the way to our anchorage would be a good idea.

And of course he was right! A very nice cero mackerel which ended up being dinner :-)

Once again a combined effort: he puts the pole out, I hear the line spooling out and he reels the fish in :-)

And of course he cooks it :-) The type of fish is great if it's fresh and I don't think it gets much fresher that it was that night !!



It was an early morning leave time of 7:15 as it was going to be a long 8 hour day of 55 miles from Great Sale to the West End on Friday. We just didn't know it was going to be SUCH a long day ....

The sunrise should have given it away - that and the 6 inches of rain overnight!!

The start of the day on Friday - this was the good part of the day!                                                  

So for the next 7 1/2 hours the rain followed us again. Just when we thought it was going to turn sunny, another dark cloud would come and dump more rain. All day long. It was crazy.

The worst was when we were in sight of the West End and the rumbling of thunder was heard! Not one of my favorite places to be in a thunderstorm: out on the water in the middle of nowhere!!

Fortunately we just barely made it in - with rain but no lightning :-)

That was Friday and now it's Sunday. This yacht came in just before we did. Talk about nice!!

So we've spent a couple of days enjoying the area here. Steve of course snorkeled around for the past two days as well as doing a bit of work on the boat.

But tomorrow looks like the day. We plan to leave at 6 am and head for Palm Beach. It'll be a 9 - 10 hour trip depending on how the winds end up blowing. Looks like 2 foot waves so hopefully that will hold :-)

Steve did take a ride into town yesterday: the conch salad stand was still there - but not open.

There are still a ton of conch shells sitting around so we think the guy is still in business but who knows .......

Monday May 6: Orchid Bay, Great Guana Cay

Orchid Bay Marina - overlooking the Sea of Abaco

Sunday we decided to finally move on from Marsh Harbor even though the wind was blowing at a good clip out of the East. It was a harrowing getaway from the docks for both us and for Randy and Cindy. The difficulty is of course trying to turn these trawlers quickly in a beam wind!

But once away from the dock and across the Sea of Abaco for the 7 mile trip to Great Guana Cay, all was well. We stayed at Orchid Bay Marina and Randy and Cindy opted to grab a mooring ball just a hundred yards from the docks. The plan was to stay a couple of nights.

It's a very nice marina but typically we really don't take advantage of all that's offered. Nice pool, nice restaurant and beautiful grounds. But it's almost like it's more work using the facilities than it's worth! Once at the dock, it seemed to be fine to just relaxing reading until dinner.

Monday morning it was time to rent a golf cart again to see the island. We had been here in 2014 but wanted to see some of the fun stuff from last time.

Beginning with the Dream Tree. The sign on the tree explains why all of the bobbers are on the tree. We looked for any bobbers from friends that we know have been here but couldn't spot any. There are a number of these trees on the island but this one seemed the most popular!

The bobber tree

A stop at the public beach seemed to be in order. Very nice soccer field, pavilion, beach, pier and restroom for public use.

Nice public beach

We tried to get into the “private” northern end of the island on the pretext of wanting to check the marina. Guess we didn't “look the look” and were turned away at the guard gate. Well, fine. Guess we'll build our mega mansion somewhere else!!

Nipper's beach

There is also a public beach at Nipper's Bar and Grill. This is probably one of the best known bars in the Abacos. 

It sits overlooking the ocean and is brightly painted in the typical Bahamian colors. Plus it has a couple of swimming pools!! Anyone for drinks while you cool off?

We settled for a beer and a seat overlooking the ocean. Such beautiful waters. There are reefs out there but as Steve found out last time, they are quite a ways from shore!

They also have an excellent display of why not to drive heavy equipment on sand! When Steve rented the golf cart, the guy shared harrowing stories of what they have to do to recover their carts after a crazy weekend – including pulling out a cart that someone backed over a seawall :-)

His parting words were: stay off of the sand - you WILL get stuck!!

So we found the next innovation in snorkeling/diving: Cindy is sitting in this little self-propelled scooter type thing. A scuba tank sits on the front so you can just drive around the reef – no experience needed :-)

Dinghy ride under the dock!

Randy and Cindy joined us for docktails and dinner Monday night – by taking the shortest path to us: under the docks in their dinghy!

We celebrated a successful trip on the flybridge with a toast of sparkling wine. It was sadly time to part ways. We are headed back to Marathon to store the boat on the hard for the summer but Randy and Cindy have decided to leave their boat here in the Bahamas!!

This means they will just fly back to Marsh Harbor next December or so and spend the winter months here in the Abacos. We'll return to Banana Bay but it wont' be the same without them.

But we'll see them this summer when we meet up on the Trent Canal: they will be on Margaritaville and we'll be on Guppy!

We also celebrated Cindy's birthday (early) with a cake and candles. Nice job Steve baking the cake :-)

Tomorrow it's time for us to head back toward the West End where we'll cross the gulf stream again - this time headed west.

Steve's hoping there is another mahi mahi in his future :-)


So we'll miss Randy and Cindy as we continue on - and we'll miss Cricket and Gigit as well! Randy sent a video: Cricket complaining to Randy that apparently he doesn't throw her 'toy' as well as we do :-) Quite the talker!

Saturday May 4: Mmmm ... a Week at the Jib Room

So we've been here at the Jib Room (Marsh Harbor Marina) for a week now. A week of storms rolling through complete with rain and really nasty looking clouds.

It was definitely a number of days that being in and tied to a dock has been just fine :-)




Steve has managed to continue to work on the boat - some of the normal stuff like cleaning the stainless steel stays on the mast.

Seems like he just did this but the salt water air just takes it's toll quickly. Steve's solution to being able to reach the very top of the stay? Attach the brush to the end of the yardstick and then stand on top of the cooler :-)

The cleaner is a brush-on and then clean off with water. Which he did. But he'd really like to use the rub on kind. Like if he maybe used Randy and Cindy's cooler on top of his just maybe he could actually get his hands to the top of the wire :-)



Of course there is also the at least easier to reach stainless rail posts that needed cleaned again.


And at least we know his bones are good as he had one of those free bone density tests that comes with a fall on his bike ...... good thing he had his helmet on. Scraped up elbows and knees .... no snorkeling for several days to  give it a chance to heal. There are some nasty bugs in saltwater so best to stay out of it for a bit.

After the  storm the other day, the reward was a full rainbow! And as Cindy commented - even the purple was visible!

It's still warm here - just quite breezy.

So we get our weather forecast for several places (all of which never seem to agree!) including Windfinder.

I like it because it's very visual. The colors tell you how windy it will be and the arrows tell the direction from which the wind is blowing.

So today the wind was mostly from the south at 10 to 14 mph and gusts of 15 to 20. We don't like greens .... we like the very deep blue which is very light winds.

What is really nice is the week long overview that is circled in red. It's predicted to be a great week up through May 13th. Of course it will change but this gives us an idea of what is coming.

The boat will be stored in Marathon so at some point we will look to make the crossing back to Florida with a week or so to travel back to the Keys. For now? Enjoying the nice weather :-)