December 15-17, 2015 Crossing the Gulf Stream and into the Bahamas

we left at 5:30 am, this barge and tugs about 6 miles out, crossing our path just as the sun was coming up .. also we encountered freighters and a cruise ship

the first 3 hours the seas where very choppy and wind on the nose, we only had the main up to steady us … later when we got into the Gulf Stream the wind was from the S East and the foresail helped a bit with some speed

throwing the first of the 3 messages in a bottle … beginning of the Gulf Stream, one in the middle and the last one just before the Bahama Banks … it will be interesting to see if we get anything back 

and we did this crossing with out me getting sea sick

it took us 11 hours to cross the Gulf Stream, but we still had another 4 hours to go to the anchorage, 

Joe taking down the US flag

we had a few hours of daylight on the Bahama Banks in 12 feet of water

sun setting

our path is the top line, crossing the Stream on to the Banks and we stopped at Mangrove Cay, with 8 other sailboats … it was a long day  15 hours and about 80 NM 

up early again and we left for Crab Cay a 10 hour trip

Snowbird giving us a slow pass

the last few days have been very stressful, we both took some time out to sit at the bow

the wind is right on the nose again and we had to motor, some nice cloud formations

Center of the World Rock

and this is what it looks like

some rain showers coming our way

Snowbird at anchor in Crab Cay

setting the anchor in 7 feet of water at Crab Cay

we still have another 5 hours of travelling to get to New Plymouth and Green Turtle to check into

customs … Snowbird had a raw water pump issue, so we turned back and rafted

Dave took the impeller out and it was in okay shape, so he reinstalled it and everything was good again

and guess what direction the wind was coming from for the next 5 hours … yup right on the nose and it was very choppy … some times all we could do was 3.5 knots … another long day

Modaki and Snowbird picked up mooring balls in White Sound, there is to be a storm coming tonight with 25-30 knot winds from the north … our friends from Nova Scotia, Janis and Cam will be coming in to anchor today …

I brought this Caesar drink all the way from Canada, to celebrate our return to the Bahamas, you can't buy this here, and Clamato Juice is not available either.

once again we pump up our dinghy, which we call Walkabout, cause it gets us to shore so

we can walk about .. ha ha

Green Turtle Marina called Customs for us and the officer came to check us in, Dave is buying us all a celebration drink .. this is the bar where everyone signs a US or Bahaman dollar bill and staples it to the wall … we did this last year and it is still there … Otto and Paulien Visser gave us a Canadian Dollar bill and we will sign it and staple it to the wall this year

enjoying our drinks

the captain taking down the quarantine flag and putting the Bahamian flag up

so far we have travelled 275 NM, from November 17- December 17

December 13-14, 2015 dragging boats and alternator problems again

these young lads put on quite a show for us

love this picture, texting and boating

some boats are getting into the spirit of Christmas

we decided to do a message in the bottle thing

all ready to be tossed in the Gulf Stream

we picked up a new boat orchid

last night this sailboat (the white one) anchored beside us, and Joe and I commented on the poor anchoring skills, the 2 men left the boat and went to shore, a few squalls came thru, so the white boat dragged, it just missed the large motor vessel, and we think the anchor took hold a bit further along, just beside another marina, at 9:30 pm the 2 men had not returned … but in the morning the boat was anchored behind us this time 

we had more problems with our alternator, this time it was smoking within 5 minutes of starting the engine … we took it off again and took it and the regulator back to the alternator guy, he tested both units and said that they are working fine … we decided to buy a new alternator with a built in regulator, once back on the boat Joe installed it and ran the motor, everything is working properly … we then hauled anchor and headed about 5 miles away to the inlet of Lake Worth

Snowbirds dinghy motor is not working, so Joe took them to Customs to pick up there boat papers. Snowbird has 48 hours to get out of the country, and we did just that.

I understand it was quite a wet ride on the way back to the boat.

while Joe was away I did some chores, and found this screw on the deck, not always a good sign.

it came out of the hatch cover, the one that is leaking

the regulator that goes with the alternator, we will be selling it when we get back home

another squall coming thru, we collected a few more gallons of water

to bed early, cause tomorrow we cross the Gulf Stream to Bahamas

December 9-12, 2015 …. did not cross to Bahamas…still waiting for the weather window

I just missed a picture of this pelican sleeping, they lay their head back on their back .. he's cute anyway

Wednesday we thought we where leaving to cross to the Bahamas .. and did your last bit of provisioning, but as the day went by we decided that there was too much north wind for a small boat like ours …  Here Clarity is leaving to head down to Lake Worth inlet for the night and get a early start

Kim waving us good bye …

there they go

for one of the first time this year, the solar and wind was not giving us enough power for the house batteries , when we started the engine, all we smelt was burning rubber .. so we changed the belt with a new one, but it has been on the boat for years .  then we walked to a Yanmar dealer that sold us parts last year, to get two new belts for back up, belt guy had to order them in…... the story continues

our dinghy landing area, you always get wet at high or low tide

a hazy day looking down the river

we are also having an issue with the dinghy, leaking air and letting in water, Terry on Clarity lent us some G-FLEX and it stopped most of the issues … now no water comes in but we must have another air leak some where

Thursday we kept thinking how Clarity was doing with their crossing with  thunder clouds forming over the ocean … we got a few texts from Clarity and the first was that they where delayed in the morning by fog, so didn't leave at 5am, more like 6:30 .. and the next, Terry said that Modaki made the right decision to not cross the waves on the beam where not comfortable, and would of been tough on a 30 footer

we thought that we had seen the last of tree frogs on the boat … this little guy was living in my orchid plant, under the bark …he went for a swim, once we caught him

with the dinghy not functional, I decided to crack our coconut on board, using kitchen knives .. it only took we 1/2 hour … a serrated bread knife was the best 

all done .. now open the actual coconut

Richard and Ella gave us some German potatoes in a box, you just fry them .. so good, I added onions and garlic too, it says that it serves 2 people, it was more like 4 people… thanks or the gift, we have two more boxes to enjoy in the Bahamas

lots of catfish under the boat … 

sunset on North Lake Worth

so back to the alternator, we had another cloudy, windless day, and we started the engine to charge the batteries .. once again we smelt burning rubber … last year we had the same issue, but it was a wire touching the motor and melting … not the issue this time …  we called the belt guy, who gave us the alternator guy's number … we called them and they said bring it in to us and we will test it … we explained that we have to rent a car first and will be there within 2 hours …  Bill, alternator guy said, oh no I will come and pick you up … and it was only 15 minutes by car … so we met him at our dinghy landing, went to the shop, tested it and other than some corroded connections it was in good shape … so Bill dropped us off at the belt guys place, to get our new belts, then we walked back to the dinghy landing .. installed the alternator and the burning smell was still there … we disconnected the alternator and ran the engine, and no smell … now what … we then installed one of the two brand new belts and only a little bit of a smell, then no smell  …  so lets hope the no smell continues .

Friday night we had to run the motor again and no issues ..

Saturday, today, we worked out the bus system and called our selves seniors, and went about 3 miles away to the Garden's Mall, $1/each way … we both got shorts, I bought new Crocs, and we got a Xmas looking mat for inside the boat … it will go with our Christmas lights … 

thats it for now, it looks like next Tuesday will be the next weather window .. so lets hope it holds .

we are expecting Snow Bird to arrive at the anchorage in a few days, we hope to cross with them

December 7-8, 2015 making our way to North Lake Worth

we headed out at 7am to do the 7 bridges  .. travelling with a group of 5 sailboats

lots of grand homes along the way

Jupiter Inlet lighthouse all decked out for Christmas

one of the many bridges that we had to have opened

pelicans

our mast and one of the bridge openings

5 1/2 hours and 7 bridges

in North Lake Worth at anchor and the wind is howling

our dinghy has sprung a leak .. we are still in the process of fixing it

Clarity, from our yacht club .. Kim and Terry Ferenczy, anchoring close to us

one more check at the weather …

we might be heading out tomorrow, Thursday to cross the Gulf Stream .. if we do we won't have any wifi for a week or so