WE FINALLLLLLLLY MADE IT TO THE BAHAMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We made it across! We were beginning to question whether this would happen or not. We were even talking about the fact that winter in South Florida would still be better than winter in Chattanooga. We would just have to find a place other than Palm Beach.

We had been waiting for a suitable weather window to cross for several weeks. Every time we thought it was going to happen we would go through the whole list of things we needed to do to get ready to go (and I’m not going to bore you with the list) and then the forecast would change overnight and we would have to undo everything. We got tired of that real fast. We had three false starts and the last one was a doozy. I swam under the boat, the afternoon before we were to cross, to free up the paddle wheel on the knot meter (speedometer for you non-boat people) and then just started looking at everything on the boat that was below the water. I noticed something that looked strange to me and reported in to Jeff with my findings. Long and short, we discovered that we had a leak around the rudder post (again, for you non-boaters, it is the part that actually steers the boat when you turn the wheel). We stayed awake most of the night trying to decide if we should just go ahead and go across to the Bahamas and hope it wouldn’t get worse and we could bail water all winter and get it fixed next spring when we get back, or did we haul the boat out of the water and fix it first. We decided we needed to pull it out and fix it first. We were able to find a do-it-yourself boatyard in Riveria Beach (right across from where we were anchored) that could pull the boat out the following day. The boat was out of the water for a week while Jeff fixed it. It didn’t take that long to fix the problem, just that long for the materials to cure.

Because we were still in Florida, we were able to spend Christmas with our family, which was very nice.

But now we are in the Bahamas!!!! And the water is as beautiful as we thought it would be. We can’t wait to get in it and do some snorkeling. We had good weather for the crossing and the wind, waves and current were agreeable. We were able to motorsail most of the way. We left the Lake Worth Inlet at 4:15am, under a nearly full moon, and arrived at Great Sale Cay on the Bahamas Banks at 9pm that night. We anchored there and got up the next morning and came the rest of the way to Green Turtle Cay. We arrived at 3:30pm and promptly ran aground coming into the channel. We backed out of the channel and anchored with several other boats that were out there. They probably knew we were going to run aground and just watched the show. At least we were able to get ourselves off. We felt good about that. We heard today about two boats that recently tried to get in and had the channel blocked for 6- 8 hours while they waited for the tide to come in and float them off. There is a strong cold front coming in tomorrow, with winds in excess of 30 knots for the next several days, so we took a slip in a marina for the next several days. And it looks like everyone else had the same idea, because there doesn't appear to be a slip to be had. It was like old home week today for us. We met up with a lot of cruisers that we have met along the way, mostly in Palm Beach since we were there for so long. It was good to see them. Most of them came over the weekend before Christmas.

Tomorrow is Junkanoo. We were told it is like a mini Mardi Gras. The parade starts at 2pm. We plan to take in all the festivities and will make a full report.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!!!

STUCK IN LAKE WORTH

Well, we are stuck in Lake Worth (West Palm Beach). We are waiting for a favorable weather window to get across to the Bahamas. And we don’t see one in sight.

We took a chance last Thursday and tried it. We thought we were smarter than all the other people in the anchorage! We left at 4:00 am. It became quickly apparent that we didn’t have what it takes to make a crossing in those conditions, if we had a choice. The wind was very benign, the gulf stream was running right off the coast (about 1 mile out), which we didn’t expect, but the waves, even though they were not large (2 – 3 feet), were hitting us mostly from the side, which in turn rolled us from side to side. We were rolling so much that it was not possible to do much moving around. And it didn’t take long for both of us to start feeling sick. I gave the dogs dramamine as we were leaving and they were nervous, but fine. I had one dog on each side of me. They became snuggle pups all of a sudden. So, after about 1 1/4 hours we decided to turn around and head back in, with our tails tucked tightly. We had another boat with us, Carol & Bill on ‘Interim’, and they followed us back. After we got back in and anchored, they came over and we talked, and they said they were not uncomfortable with the rolling motion, and in fact their boat was not doing much rolling. I guess it is a difference in hull shape or something. Anyway, they decided they were going back out and across and left out again by 8:00am. We wished them well and told them we would see them when we get there!

We learned some valuable lessons. One - don’t always believe the weather forecast. Second - have faith in the other cruisers that are waiting to go the same place you are, especially when they have done this before. Third – we will alter our course going across to make landfall in the daylight hours, even if it means going into someplace we really didn’t want to go – we did not like being out in the dark ‘on the big blue sea’. I told Jeff if Thursday was as good as it gets for making it across then I was going to have to find another way across (although other cruisers have told us that it will get better if we will wait). And he agreed with me. The people we bought our boat from, Dick & Judy Gardner, had a saying that I have repeated many times - ‘Nothing goes to weather like a 747!!!’

So here it is – we are big schickens! And we want to be comfortable.

Leaving Velcro Beach

We are leaving in the morning. When we got here Jeff wanted to stay 2 nights. We will have been here six nights, when we leave tomorrow. We were told Vero Beach has a nick name, at least by the cruisers, as Velcro Beach - you arrive and you can't pull yourselves away. We did not understand that, at least the first day. The boats are sooooo close together, it is like living in a trailer park! And there are sooooooooo mannnnny boats here. We have adjusted. There is free bus service that picks us up at the marina and takes us anywhere we want to go - Wal-Mart, Sam's, Lowe's, Home Depot, West Marine, Office Depot, Publix, the Beach, anywhere. And it runs 8 - 5. We certainly have taken advantage of it - many times! There is a 3 acre dog park (no leashes, plus they provide poop bags) next to the marina, that also provides poop bags (can you tell we like that aspect?). We can now see why people, and not just boat people come here and stay. It is a delightful city! The picture above was taken from the bridge that overlooks the mooring field we have been in. It doesn't do it justice. You can't really get the feel for how close the boats are together and how many there are.

By the way - we have Christmas lights on our boat, as well as a Christmas tree!! I am posting a picture. There are just a few boats with Christmas decorations - but by gosh, we are one of them!! You know I like my Christmas decorations!!! I know the picture is blurry, but it is the best I could get. Jeff put more lights around the rest of the boat this afternoon.

Anyway, we are pulling out in the morning, heading for Lake Worth and our weather window to cross. We don't know when we will next have internet, so don't be surprised if we don't post for a week or so. We just don't know what we will find. We will post as soon as we can.