We left St. Augustine and stayed the first 2 nights on the hook on the ICW at convenient anchorage points when a front hit us north of Vero Beach. There are some sections of the ICW which are very wide and open allowing the winds to whip up the waves. We were hit with winds gusting to over 30 knots and some very heavy fog and heavy driving rain during which we were using binoculars and the chart plotter and radar going from one buoy to the next. At least the big sport fishers were slowing down for a change!
This front was forecast to continue for a number of days and so we decided to tuck into Stuart. This city is on the St. Lucie River which connects the Atlantic ICW to Lake Okeechobee and to the west Gulf coast ICW (which runs all along the Gulf Coast to Texas.) Stuart is about 7 miles up the St Lucie River so it is a bit off the "highway" but for a staging town it was fantastic.
Under the 65 ft fixed, through the usually open railway bridge and the blue one just behind the railway bridge is Old Dixie Hwy bridge.
We stayed on a mooring ball at $20/nt at the Sunset Bay Marina and the balls are only $300 on a monthly, just over from Marty and Lisa on True Colors who we had met in Annapolis. This marina is beyond great - very clean facilities with cruisers' lounge with TV, showers and laundry, a complimentary bus on Tuesdays and Fridays to shopping, free bicycles to borrow, free wifi (not much bandwidth but still…) and large dinghy dock all a short walk to the scenic "old town" a street with nice shops and restaurants.
We stayed for 5 days and rode the bikes about 10 miles a day (JC Penney's at the mall, Target, Lowes & Home Depot, West Marine, banking), walked the 5 blocks to the Publix grocery store, used the marina bus for bulky purchases etc. We provisioned and filled in all the items on our list including fishing gear (rods, net, gaff, tackles etc - we are ready for you Joseph!) We also picked up our VHF radio at the West Marine where we had Raymarine ship it to. The radio works like new and we get good reception over 40 miles.
We left on Thanksgiving Day (US version) so we missed the dinner put on by the marina (free, boy these folks make it very hard to leave.) Back on the road we anchored on the ICW 2 nights (Lantana bridge and Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale) before arriving in Miami. We anchored on the north side of the Venetian Causeway right off Miami Beach where the Marine police unit has a detachment and there is a boat launch with water at mile 1088.5. This was a very convenient spot and just on the south side of the Miami Beach and the Venetian Causeway is the Collins canal which runs miles. Just up the canal a mile or so is Publix Grocery store which has put in a small dinghy dock with locking rings and a gate right across the street. We picked up our last items for provisioning (found a little more room for beer, munchies, stocked up on fresh fruits and veg and some final meats) and started getting the boat ready for crossing. "Valero" gas station is just a little further up the canal from Publix, about another mile or two. It sells diesel so we took our jerry cans and topped off both our diesel and our gasoline. There is a small ladder and the canal wall was a bit overgrown but we were on a mission and we climbed up and over. The owner saw us and came over and unlocked the small gate and when we were ready to leave he had swept the steps and the wall area around the ladder and apologized for it being messy! We chatted a bit and found out he is Cuban and came to Miami 40 years ago with the Cuban exodus. Back to the boat with ice creams also from the gas station.
We began listening to the weather carefully for crossing the gulf stream from Florida to the Bahamas starting in Stuart. Chris Parker is a weather forecaster and makes a living providing weather services to cruisers from the US eastern coast from about Charleston to the Bahamas and the Caribbean. He broadcasts every morning on ham radio and people throughout this region and even into the Atlantic for crossings listen to him. He starts broadcasting at 6 am and finishes at about 9:30 with 4 broadcasts on different frequencies. We began looking for our "weather window." We seized an opportunity on December 2 and left our anchorage at 8 am and spoke to incoming Sea Change (Shane, Mary and Franklin who we'd first met in Charleston and again in St. Augustine.) Out we went past the cruise ships, tugs, commercial traffic and ferries and we were clear and out the Government Cut Inlet by 9:45 am.
Ever wonder how things get to islands? Those aren't Tonka toys!
The night was moonless but the stars came out in full force and were magnificent. Our course turned a little bit to the south and the wind moved a little bit north and that added up to turning off the engine and putting the full sails out and sailing a beam reach for about another 60 miles in 12- 16 knots, good for just over 6 knots speed. From Bimini on the North West Channel we were on the Great Bahamas Bank and in as little as 12 feet of water all night long. Behind us the water had been up to 3000 feet deep and in less than ½ mile we had entered this vast shallow region. In the dark we sailed along listening to Mike Oldfield albums, cranking up Tubular Bells, and trying not to think of lurking coral heads (the Banks are safe and virtually coral head-free but still in the middle of the night…) We passed some big yachts in the night, some showing on the AIS and radar, but for the most part we were alone on the Banks. We pushed on through the North West Channel which opens from the Banks into the "Tongue of the Ocean" and watched in amazement as the depth dropped from 15 feet to 1500 feet and more in 500 yards. Dawn came and we were on course for Chub Cay, at the very south end of the Berry Islands. We arrived at 7:30 am and had covered 124.5 Nautical Miles (NM) in about 21 hours. We hoisted the Yellow "Q" Flag(for quarantine - a customs not disease thing!)while we waited outside the channel until about 8:00am and proceeded in.
Our cruising guides led us to expect a swank and expensive marina with some outrageous prices for the privilege of using their dock to clear customs. WRONG. The marina is in receivership and has been for 7 years, with basic services crawling along. We docked on a very nice dock and some Bahamians came by on a fishing boat and handed Edi the customs package. Another fellow came along to tell us to go to the reception building just behind the swordfish sculpture. There we finished our paperwork and he drove us to the little airstrip with the customs office.
We took some fresh fruits and vegetables for the woman who works there (there is no fresh market on Chub Cay) and met Mr. Flowers, a young man who is the customs officer. We wrapped up in no time at all, paid our $300 (includes a fishing licence but only Bahamians can harvest conch, use spear guns and nets) and have until May 1, 2014 in the Bahamas with no further paper work. Our cruising permit is our "despatcho" and we do not have to re-attend before leaving. We then show the Bahamian cruising licence at our next country's customs office. The fee for the drive to the airport from the marina was only $20 and small voluntary tip and we did not have to take a slip for a day or pay any other fee. Misinformation abounds but the marina is apparently under a conditional offer to purchase so this may change next year.
We were back aboard and out of the harbour by 11am. By noon we were a couple of miles over and at anchor in 9 feet of water between Frazer's Hog Cay and Bird Cay. The water is crystal clear and we can see the bottom perfectly in depth even up to 100 feet. We dropped and set-up the dinghy, got the boat tidied up, replaced the yellow Q flag with the Bahamian courtesy flag, cracked a couple of beers and went swimming and saw a sting ray under us!
It's Better in the Bahamas - yes, it is!
Kind of Magic @ anchor, Frazer's Hog Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas
2438.9 NM / 2804.8 STM / 4487.6 KM; 3 ½ months out
B & E out
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