Road less travelled, January 4, 2013

The normal path for boats leaving Miami and heading to the Bahamas is to cross to Bimini, then sail the Banks to Chub Cay. From there it is on to Nassau to provision and then head to the Exumas. That was our plan when we left Florida. Then, after we got on the Banks, we changed our minds and decided to explore the Berry Islands. These islands are remote and often bypassed for the more popular islands.

We headed to the north end of the Berry Islands then went down the east side of the island chain and ducked in at Hoffman's Cay. We spent four nights anchored in total seclusion. For three days, we saw no other humans, except for one fishing boat that cruised on by.




We snorkeled, swam, read and walked the beach. On New Years Eve we enjoyed a surf and turf dinner of steak and lobster, with garlic mashed potatoes and champagne. Can it get any better?




One day we hiked a trail through the bush to a blue hole. This is a nearly perfectly round "sink hole," with clear blue water. We snorkled the edge and were reminded of doing the same thing in Topaz Lake in Lake Huron's North Channel.

We reluctantly left Hoffmans Cay and weaved our way in shallow water to a spot near Little Harbor Cay. The water was never more than eight feet deep and often under five feet. We repeatedly expressed our thanks for our shallow draft and our chart plotter.

After we got settled at our new anchorage, we radioed to Flo's Conch Bar and asked about coming in for dinner. The bar is operated by Chester and his partner, Lovely. The bar and their home are the only buildings on the island. Lovely answered Laurie's radio call and asked what we wanted for dinner. Laurie asked, "what are our choices?" "Fish or conch" was the reply. We chose, "one of each."




We shared the two dinners that came with rice and beans and cole slaw. As you can see, we enjoyed the meal and cleaned up our plates.

While we were there, we met two couples that have cruised this area a lot. We told them we were planning to head to Nassau. They suggested a less conventional route of going to Spanish Wells and then on to Eleuthera before heading to the Exumas. After a few minutes of thought, we decided to give it a shot.




This is the reflection of Glory Days' mast in about eight feet of water as we sit at anchor.

We had a nice weather forecast and hauled anchored at 7:00 am and left the Berry Islands and headed across an area known as the Tongue of the Ocean. This section if the Atlantic is interesting because the water depth drops from about eighty feet to over 3000 feet in a distance of about 200 yards. The water color turns from aqua to deep cobalt blue.

Dan set the fishing lines and soon hooked a cero (which we kept) followed by an angry looking barracuda, (which we carefully released) and then another cero. Several hours later, the line started screaming out and before Dan could stop the fish, he had stripped all of the line, snapped it, and was last seen headed toward Cuba with a $12 lure in his mouth.

We pulled in to Royal Island at about 4:00 pm and enjoyed fried cero. In the morning we traveled the short distance to Spanish Wells. This is a very quaint town that is dedicated to fishing. The harbor master informed us that ninety percent of the commercial fish caught in the Bahamas comes through Spanish Wells.





The homes here are painted in pastels and the vegetation is well maintained. All of the people we encountered were friendly, but none more so than Maureen, who gave us a ride back to the marina after our rented golf cart died in front of her house.

We bought some perishable foods at the local grocery store and some snapper from a local fisherman. We had to wait for him to finish cleaning it before we headed back to the boat and fried it up for dinner.

In the morning we are going to head out and explore the western shore of Eleuthera. In the meantime we have enjoyed having Internet access and getting caught up on the blog and emails.


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Location:Spanish Wells

Bimini to the Berry Islands

We left Bimini around 11:00 a.m. to begin our Great Bahama Bank Crossing. We saw a large powerboat just as we were leaving, then didn't see another boat until we were almost to Great Harbor Key. In fact, the only other living creature we saw was a moth that flew by while we were eating dinner. Crossing the Bank is much like crossing Lake Huron in that you see nothing but sea and sky for extended periods. However there is the added benefit of being able to drop anchor when you want because you are crossing water that averages about sixteen feet deep. Around dinner time we anchored in clear turquoise water and Laurie whipped up a delicious lobster scampi pasta that we ate in the cockpit.






This was our view to the west.




The moon rising was our view to the east.

After sleeping for several hours, Dan pulled anchor and we kept moving across the Bank. We anchored off Great Harbor Cay and dinghyed into Bullocks Harbor. It is a small, poor community with little to offer from our perspective, although we were able to access the Internet at the local grocery store. The next morning, we headed north around the island, passing two large cruise boats and the cruise lines' little Tiki villages on the northern shore. We then sailed down the east side of the island chain in the ocean.

We were excited when we got a hit on the lure we had been trolling off our stern and Dan caught his first fish in the Bahamas. After comparing it to pictures in our sport fishing book, we were pretty sure it was a cero. So Dan filleted it and we grilled it for dinner later that day.

We have been looking for a private anchorage and we followed a winding channel through some shallow water to a secluded cove along the western shore of Hoffman's Cay. We spent days here without seeing another person or boat.




This is a view of our private beach.




We found shells along the beach, including perfect starfish and sand dollars.





We are adjusting to not being connected with the outside world here. We no longer have a functioning iPhone and are too far away from a Batelco tower to have phone coverage. Strong winds have been blowing for days. When the conditions are favorable, we will move to another harbor where we may be able to connect to the Internet or phone home. In the meantime, we are enjoying our secluded harbor home.





We never tire of these beautiful sunsets.

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Location:Berry Islands

Christmas in Miami, Boxing Day in Bimini. Dec. 26, 2012

Spending Christmas in Miami, away from from family, felt very strange to us. We started the day by meeting our friends, George and Jackie on shore and going for a walk through a bayside park. It was warm and sunny and there were a lot of people out enjoying the holiday morning.




Later, George and Jackie came over to Glory Days for a Christmas celebration. We had appetizers in the cockpit, then adjourned below for Caesar Salad, stuffed chicken breasts and roasted Brussels sprouts. This was followed by Jackie's rum cake and shortbread cookies. We all decided that if you can't be with family, it is nice to be with good friends. It was truly a unique, but merry Christmas.

For George and Jackie, there are family members to meet and boat parts to be installed, so their decision to stay in Miami was an easy one. For the crew of Glory Days, it was a little more complicated. We had been watching the weather forecasts, trying to decide when we would have the appropriate "weather window" to cross to the Bahamas. Some people thought leaving the day after Christmas might be dicey, with the potential for strong winds and rough seas. Our interpretation was that there was potential for great sailing. We made a plan to leave our mooring ball in Dinner Key at 6:00 a.m. and head across Biscayne Bay into the Atlantic for the 50 mile crossing to Bimini. We felt a little better about our decision when the sun rose and we could see no less than eight other boats heading in the same direction.

The wind was strong and the waves were big, but there was great sailing to be had and and we beam reached all the way to the entrance to North Bimini Harbor. It was a little wild taking down the sails and turning toward the channel, but the intrepid crew was up to the task.




Soon we were tied up to a dock and Dan was hoisting the "Q" flag before reporting our arrival to a sleepy Customs officer and even sleepier Immigrations officer.

After taking care of these formalities, it was off for some exploring and an opportunity to walk the same streets that Ernest Hemingway walked.




We walked the six blocks, or so from Alice Town into Bailey Town and on the way said hello to many friendly residents. Among the people we met was a man that offered to sell us "fresh frozen" lobster tails. He sold us what he said were 12 tails, but upon closer inspection, back at the boat, turned out to be 18 tails. We had a great Bahamian dinner of lobster and we still have enough for another five meals. And, this is our first day in the country!

We are watching the weather to look for an another opportunity to make our next move, but for now we are pretty content to hang in Bimini and eat lobster and drink cheap rum.

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Location:Alice Town, Bimini, Bahamas

Done with the ICW. December 21 2012

Today was an interesting day. The world did not end and we have completed our section of the Intracoastal Waterway. We are at Mile 1094. The ICW continues, but this will be our jumping off point to the Bahamas.



The day began in Fort Lauderdale, where we had been for four nights. We woke up to strong and blustery northwest winds and small craft warnings on the Atlantic Ocean. "This is a perfect day to finally go outside and actually do some sailing," said Dan. Laurie was less enthusiastic, but willing to give it a shot. By going outside we were able to avoid seven draw bridges and make good time. We headed to sea at the Port Everglades Inlet and turned south. We unfurled the headsail and trucked down the Gold Coast to the Government Inlet at Miami. We had great boat speed and small waves with the offshore winds. Dan pulled out the fishing gear and trolled for Maihi Maihi, with no luck. Laurie drove the entire way and agreed it was a good decision to sail today. For Great Lakes sailors, it was a remarkable day on the ocean.




This was the view entering Government Cut with Miami in the foreground.

We rejoined the ICW for the few miles to Dinner Key at the town of Coconut Grove. We grabbed a mooring ball and learned that the water taxi was not running due to the small craft warnings. Showers (long overdue) will have to wait until morning.



Our journey down the ICW began on October 22 in Norfolk Virginia at Mile 0. Here we passed the shipyards where our country's military might is strengthened.

Since that time we have enjoyed getting to know a part of the country that was new to us. We have passed though Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and finally Florida. We sat out Hurricane Sandy anchored in the Dismal Swamp. We have experienced many warm sunny days and some cold wet nights.

We have visited many small towns and cities such as Elizabeth City, Morehead City, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Beaufort, St. Marys, Fernandina Beach, Vero, Fort Lauderdale and more. They are all connected by this magnificent waterway and all offer safe harbor to water travelers.




We have witnessed incredible sunrises and sunsets while anchored in places like Minim Creek, Toogoodoo Creek, Bull Creek, the Wahoo River and many others.




We have seen evidence of tough times,





And prosperous times.




We have had some history lessons and learned more about the hardy folks that settled these lands.




We have walked with the wild horses of Cumberland Island...




and sailed with dolphins. They have become a common sight that we never tire of.



This is our view of Coconut Grove as we swing on a mooring ball. We plan to hang around this area until we get the proper weather window to head for the Bahamas and the next adventure.




This will hopefully be our last blog until we get to the Bahamas. So....from the crew of Glory Days, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all.

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Location:Coconut Grove, Florida

....and the dog ate my homework! December 20' 2012

We wrote a blog recapping our journey from Vero to Boca Raton. Dan hit the "publish" button and blogspot confirmed that it was loaded, and then it disappeared???? Even the "local" copy disappeared. It is somewhere in Cyberspace, never to be found. Before redoing it, we waited to see if the world was going to end.

So, to recap... We left Vero on December 14 and had a very nice sail down the Intracoastal to Jensen Beach where we anchored behind the causeway and dinghied to shore for dinner with George and Jackie at Conchey Joe's.

The next morning it was up early and off to North Palm at Lake Worth.







The scenery along the way was pretty spectacular.

The next day we had hoped to get to Lauderdale, but there are twenty bridges between Palm Beach and Lauderdale. They all have different opening schedules and it took longer than planned. We bailed out at Boca Raton and anchored in the lake in front of mansions, condos and yachts.





As tough as that day was, the next day to Lauderdale was a piece of cake. We fell in behind a "party boat" named Caprice. The captain was a former sailor and took us under his wing. He has all the openings timed, so it was a matter of following him through, one after another.

We anchored in another beautiful spot called Sylvia Lake. We then dinghied to the Southport Raw Bar. You can tie up at their dock provided you eat there. The food is great, so it is no hardship. The location provides access to shopping and more importantly, the new West Marine Store. The store is over 50,000 square feet and is the largest in the country! What a store.

We are going to hang one more day in Lauderdale, then head to Dinner Key in Miami. Then we will start looking for good weather to cross to the Bahamas. We could possibly be in Bimini for Christmas.

Location:Fort Lauderdale

They call it Velcro Beach for a reason. December 12,2012

While we were planning this adventure, we kept hearing about this place that was nicknamed "Velcro Beach." This is the place where many cruisers come and never leave. Vero Beach is right on the Intracoastal Waterway, has lots of mooring balls at an affordable price and the place caters to cruisers. The marina has nice bathrooms/showers, a large dinghy dock, high speed Internet, laundry on site, and easy access to shopping and beautiful beaches. The city has established a bus stop in front of the marina and offers FREE bus service to the beach area or to the shopping centers. There is a community of boaters that call this place home and also a large number cruisers that stop here to provision before crossing to the Bahamas. We also learned that a number of former cruisers have bought homes here when they finished cruising and have formed a club called, "CLODS," cruisers living on dirt.


Dan and Leo arrived here on December 7 after an easy ride down from Cocoa. On the way we crossed paths with this boat. He was decked out with Christmas lights and was heading to Vero for the lighted boat parade.




While we were in Vero we connected with some old friends of Leo's, Bob and Sandy. They invited us to dinner at their condo and then Bob took us surf fishing the next day. We caught a few small fish and the Dan hooked a shark that was on the line for a quick run, before biting through the line and going on his way. Bob and Sandy are CLODS, having sailed their Tayana 42 to the Bahamas many times before selling it and settling in Vero for the winters.

In addition to fishing and socializing, Dan and Leo tackled some boat projects in preparation for Laurie's return and our crossing to the islands.

Laurie returned on December 10, after 10 days in Michigan. While there she had a chance to visit with friends and family and enjoy some holiday cheer.




After Laurie arrived, we took full advantage of having a rental car. It is time for us to provision for the Bahamas, so it was off to Sam's Club. The car was a Chevy Spark and barely bigger than a motorcycle, but we managed to squeeze in an awful lot of groceries. Then came the task of finding a spot for everything. Glory Days seemed a little lower in the water when we were done, but she is still floating.

Today we relaxed a bit and took the bus to the beach for a nice walk. We hope to pull away from Velcro Beach tomorrow with a plan of being in Miami by the weekend and crossing to Bimini when the weather permits.

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Location:Vero Beach, Florida

Now we are south. December 6, 2012

We enjoyed our stay in St. Augustine and walked around the oldest city in America. It has a nice blend of tourism, history and culture.




This is the gate to the walled part of the city. Just beyond the wall is fort Castillo de San Marcos. The fort was completed in 1695 and took 23 years to build.







This is Leo standing watch in the lookout post on one corner of the fort.




This fort was incredibly well constructed, with walls as much fourteen feet thick at the base. Is is made of coquina, a stone similar to limestone that was mined from a quarry on a neighboring island. The fort was so well constructed and fortified that is was never taken by force. It is now operated by the National Park Service.

We left St. Augustine on December 4 and travelled about 60 miles to a quiet anchorage on Rockhouse Creek. On the way we passed Daytona Beach and Dan was reminded of the time he spent here on college spring break. Traveling through here on a boat in 2012 is very different.

The next morning we were up and going again at 6:15 so we could catch the 7:00 am bridge opening 4 miles down the ICW.

While we were in route we finally had the dolphin experience that everyone who has made this trip talks about.



This dolphin swam along with us and played in our wake for what seemed like miles.




Since getting further south in Florida, we have been seeing more and more Osprey. This guy was keeping a close watch on us from his perch on this drawbridge.




Around mid day we passed the Kennedy Space Center and the Vehicle Assembly Building. When it was constructed in 1965, it was the largest building in the world. Now it ranks 6th largest. It is very a impressive sight and can be seen for miles.

We arrived at Cocoa and learned that Leo's friends, Bob and Donna had arranged for us to tie up to the dock in front of their condo. They have been terrific hosts! Donna is a great cook and Bob has been a great tour guide and historian.




This is the sunrise view from their condo, with Glory Days tied to the dock in the center of the photo.

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Location:Cocoa Florida