Friday 31st of January
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☀︎Sunny warm ℉
25° 25′ 50.447 N 76° 35′ 55.032 W
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Anchor
Landmark - Queen's Bath |
Friday night we caught the sunset behind our boat. Saturday morning, after Chris paddle boarded a little while I washed last night's curry dishes, then we set towards Glass Window Bridge as high tide was coming up. It wasn't anything compelling to submit in videos. We believe it's real amazement is only during surges and storms. Then we dinghied to the nearby beach where our boat is adjacent and found the trail to cross Queen's highway to Queen's bath. The tide was forcing water into the pools and we had a blast. The rush of water is better than anything at a water park. My buoyancy in the pools were great and I could just relax - better than a sensory deprivation tank. There, I felt the crazy daily rat race melt from my body.
Friday 17th of January
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⛅︎ Partly Cloudy 69℉
26° 27.137 N 77° 02.966 W
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Anchor - Snake Cay
Marsh Harbor - Airport |
Beautiful indigo skies of clouds sprinkling occasionally upon the pastel green sea.
Chris and I feel the emptiness after Celina and Nicole left. We have spent over $600 in groceries in Marsh Harbor! I will definitely provision stateside better next time. We are anchoring in Snake Cay so this weekend we can snorkel some good reefs and then set off to Eleuthera Monday. The view is surreal. The sky, cloud and in between, is a perfect indigo that no camera can capture right. God is the best artist.
Chris and I feel the emptiness after Celina and Nicole left. We have spent over $600 in groceries in Marsh Harbor! I will definitely provision stateside better next time. We are anchoring in Snake Cay so this weekend we can snorkel some good reefs and then set off to Eleuthera Monday. The view is surreal. The sky, cloud and in between, is a perfect indigo that no camera can capture right. God is the best artist.
Thursday 16th of January
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⛅︎ Partly Cloudy 70℉
26° 32.879 N 77° 03.395 W
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Anchor - Marsh Harbor
Boat Work |
Kāpene went up the mast today. He replaced the steaming light with an LED bulb. He also cleaned up and re-soldered the wind vane board which now reads the wind direction again. Marsh Harbor is a nice Bahamian town. Everything is within walking distance of a dock; including the biggest supermarket that they have seen here in the Bahamas.
Thursday 9th of January
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⛅︎ 65℉
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Anchor - Water Cay / Ambergris Cay
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Bebopped around the little islands around here hiding from the wind and working all week. Met another boat family and they had two young ladies. Wheke invited them to played card games one night and a bonfire on the beach another night. All of the laughter and talking filled the air those nights.
Tuesday 2nd of January
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☀︎ Sunny 72℉
Water 79℉ 25° 48.778 N 77° 53.966 W
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Anchor - Snake Cay
Berry Islands Cruise Ship stop AC Power fix |
Early morning, 2 am, arrived at the north side of the Berry Islands and anchored in a clam spot. Every gets a sound sleep. Whai had to work today, so she was the first up. When Kāpene woke up, the first thing on his mind was to try the water maker again, this time no smell. But one thing fixed leads o another broken. A plastic burning smell filled the air. AC power flipped off. Kāpene found a bad connection that over headed. It took him 2 hours to fix that, but it shouldn't happen again. Otherwise it was a relax anchored day and ended with some chocolate cheesecake and a movie. Family time!
Wednesday 1st of January
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Noon -- ☀︎ 75℉
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Down Wind Sail
Berry Islands Smelly Water |
Took our time getting up this morning. Wheke made a nice breakfast for everyone. The hand made biscuits smelled good. Decided on sailing down wind to the Berry Islands. The water tank was getting low but when Kāpene was running the water maker Wheke tasted the water is was producing, she said it taste and smelled funny. They cleaned every part of that filter system to get the smell out and left them in the sun. It was such a smooth sail that Wheke, Kāpene, and Whai played a pirate board game. We sailed into the night with a sliver of moon.
Tuesday 31st of December
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Noon -- ⛅︎ Mostly Sunny 77℉
26° 42.325 N 78° 59.352 W
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Crossing
Customs West End Old Bahamas Water Spouts - Storm |
Cross from Florida to the Bahamas. Rolling 2' swells, not bad of a sail. As we got closer to West End, Whai was at the helm while everyone was napping. As she watched the rain clouds in the distance, she heard over the VHF some other sailors talking about passing through the storm and being surrounded by 6 water spouts. I'd pee my pants in that situation. So we slowed down and stayed behind the storm waiting for it to vanish and watched the spouts from afar. Warm water of 82℉! Arrived at 3pm! Great timing. We anchored in a clam area and checked it.
Monday 30th of December
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5 am -- ⛅︎ Partly Cloudy 65℉
7 pm -- Clear night sky 72℉ |
ICW Florida
Fort Pierce |
3 am raised anchor and back to motoring south on the ICW.
5 am passed Cape Canaveral. Water temp is 68℉. Getting warmer!!!
7 pm Made it to Fort Pierce inlet. Leaving the ICW and heading south following the coast. 3 kts of wind and still motoring.
5 am passed Cape Canaveral. Water temp is 68℉. Getting warmer!!!
7 pm Made it to Fort Pierce inlet. Leaving the ICW and heading south following the coast. 3 kts of wind and still motoring.
Sunday 29th of December
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7 pm -- ☁︎ Cloudy & Rainy 69℉
28° 37.66 N 80° 48.51 W
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Anchor
Titusville Florida ER |
4 am disaster. Whai made a wrong step. Her left leg went into the hatch and her side hit the hatch door then it caught her arm and stopped her from falling in. She laid there in pain for a while. We were not near any town to stop so we kept going to get to Titusville, Florida. A kind marina let us dock to get Whai carefully yo shore.
Saturday 28th of December
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8 am -- ☁︎ Foggy Rainy 65℉
2 pm -- ⛅︎ Partly Sunny 72℉ 29°53.76' N 81°18.58' W 6:40 pm -- ⛅︎ Clear 68℉ |
ICW Florida
Palm Coast Bridges |
Noon: The Otis' visited me. A cute little boy was very excited to see me. Leaving St. Augustine.
Night: Motoring south on the ICW. Steady 4 Kts. Just keep going and going and going.
Night: Motoring south on the ICW. Steady 4 Kts. Just keep going and going and going.
Saturday 18th of December
Morning started with Wheke hauling Kāpene to the top of my mast and checking out my steaming light and my windvane. They really care about me. Then we headed to Oriental, NC.
Bad idea - boating down swamp area in fog during hunting season.
We heard gunshots very close, then saw that hunters were within range of us with their decoys. Scary.
Another bad idea - Mylar ballons!!!! Ugh!
Please make mylar balloons illegal. I see them everywhere - Chesapeake Bay, Casco Bay, Cape Cod, Pungo River.... please people! These are prop killers and trash that travels on its own.
Bad idea - boating down swamp area in fog during hunting season.
We heard gunshots very close, then saw that hunters were within range of us with their decoys. Scary.
Another bad idea - Mylar ballons!!!! Ugh!
Please make mylar balloons illegal. I see them everywhere - Chesapeake Bay, Casco Bay, Cape Cod, Pungo River.... please people! These are prop killers and trash that travels on its own.
Friday 17th of December
In the morning cool fog, Kāpene and Wheke dressed in layers with coastal jackets on top. After the fog cleared by mid morning, Wheke prepared to take video and measurement of next bridge and Kāpene cut, bend and finish aluminum brackets for Solar Panel railing system, while I followed the autopilot to waypoints. Wheke warned Kāpene that Garmin Navionics Boating App, No Foreign Land app, Local knowledge on PredictWind, and Waterway guide webpage had postings by boaters that emphasized staying exactly in center of canal. Beneath the murky water surface, dangers lie. I ran aground on a hefty stump or log under the mirky water and it lodged under my keel into the mud. Kāpene tried throttling both my engines in reverse but I wouldn't budge. Wheke radioed the sailing monohaul seen in the distance behind me, having not seen the AIS reporting the name, notifying them of my fat butt....uh boat in the way. SV Leventeia came back over the VHF and offered help. Wheke asked her to standby. Kāpene dug out the extra anchor and took it to other side of the channel with my tender. He dropped the trusty anchor. Wheke cranked it tight on the winch while Kāpene throttle the engines again. With all the physical activity, Kāpene and Wheke tossed their jackets off as they were sweating in the 55 deg F air. Finally, I got loose. SV Leventeia and I had some friendly exchange as she passed me while my crew cleaned up the anchor. The rest of the day has gone well and we are comfortably anchored in Goose Creek.
Thursday 16th of December
I'm trying to get my crew to warmer weather as soon as my little engines can! Nice weather today and calm rivers. It was an easy autopilot day. Kāpene kept working on the new solar panel rails while Wheke worked remotely. Kāpene and Wheke left me for the evening to enjoy sundowners with our friends from Athena and meet new friends on Leventeia. I just twinkled my lights at them.
Thursday 9th of December
Finally, Kāpene (my Captain) and Wheke (his wife) have come back to me. I am getting new solar panels and another heading reference device! It's about to get freezing again Friday, so they are preparing to sail me to warmer waters. Wheke is counting down the days of advent of Christmas. She says Whai and Honu (I called her Petite Femme in previous blogs but I now recognize her spirit animal.) will be joining us after Christmas to sail to Bahamas! Woo-hoo!
