January 23 - February 5 2013
St Augustine, FL to West End Bahamas
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| Jan 23/24, 2013 | Camachee Cove Marina, St Augustine, FL | |
| We left Fernandina Beach at 8:45 am
and headed south. The water was shallow most of the morning and the
bottom had shifted from various storms. It kept us on our toes but we
found deep enough water all day.
Yesterday in Fernandina Beach we fueled at Port Consolidated fuel docks,
taking on 264 gallons of fuel at $3.53 per gallon. A better price by
$1 over the local marinas. That fuel moved us almost 350 miles, which
is good for a boat of our size. And, then the big houses of Florida began. Note the exposed shoals along the bulkheads at low tide. And, see the BIG boat on the hard. As we were nearing the end of the day, headed to Camachee Cove Marina in St. Augustine, I brought the engines up to "blow" out soot in the cylinders before tying up. We had a vibration. As we had not gone aground I assumed it was a rope or crab pot that was trapped on the starboard shaft. Once moored , I made arrangements for a diver to remove the line the following morning. He arrived and once in the water said "Get your spare props out. You're not going to believe what I found." He quickly changed the props to our spare set with the boat in the water. The starboard prop showed no evidence of touching the bottom, just some paint layers being worn off. However, you can see in the last pictures that the hub had cracked completely thru where it attaches to the shaft. No one around had ever seen such a situation, but we concluded it must be metal fatigue. We're ready to go now and will leave here early Friday morning. We've enjoyed our two day stay which gave Carey a chance to restock and make a trip to West Marine to buy a new grill....and, of course, shoes. Later, we toured the 1973 Mathews docked several slips from us. The owner will be selling it in the spring and setting up a business in Southport. It's food for thought. And the picture at right is just part of the Camachee Cove Marina. |
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| Jan 25, 2013 | Rock House Creek, FL | |
| Underway from Camachee Cove Marina at 8 am, we made the 67 mile trip to Rock House Creek anchorage by 3 pm. We're making good mileage, staying underway longer but keeping the speed down. At the beginning of the day we passed through St. Augustine and the Bridge of Lions, the latter built in 1928. Lots of commercial boats - tugs galore - plying these waters, and we were passed by a small fast boat, part of the border patrol for the area. Late in the day we passed an old Navy tug then anchored with several other boats at Rockhouse Creek and toasted a spectacular sunset. | ||
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| Jan 26, 2013 | Rock Point Anchorage, FL | |
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We started at 8 am aiming for a 65 mile trip to a Banana River anchorage.
But during the day we watched the upcoming weather and discovered we have a
chance to cross to the Bahamas on next Tuesday. If we can't make that,
we'll likely be stuck in Florida for a week or more. We changed
our plans and moved another 20 miles to the Rock Point, Melbourne,
anchorage. This was the place, 7 years ago, I proposed to Carey as we
were coming back from a trip to the Bahamas.
With the change in plans today was a 83 mile travel day ... arriving after 9 hours underway. We enjoy the travel as much as arriving at a destination. Our plan now is to make Ft Pierce by noon tomorrow, restock with the help of our friend Bonnie Scanlin, then onto Lake Worth on Monday where we'll visit our buddies, Wayne and Francine ... delightful friends that we met in the Abacos in 2010 and traveled with in the Elutheras and Exumas. They live on the Ottawa River, just outside Montreal, Quebec, and spend the winter in their Lantana, Florida home. Hopefully, daybreak on Tuesday morning we'll cross to West End, Grand Bahamas, weather permitting. We've enjoyed the Waterway...but are more than ready to to move on. Along the way today we had the normal contingent of dolphins. They're amazing, moving at 10 mph without even trying...in a cluster. We saw several fishermen standing in 60 degree water, while others from the fish camps put boats in the water to haul in their fish. Passed through Haul Over Canal, just above Cape Kennedy (Canaveral), one of Carey's favorite spots. We spotted four manatees there....the first time we've seen them there. Last pictures are of the local families that gather at the Canal to fish. |
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| Jan 27, 2013 | Harbor Town Marina, Ft Pierce, FL | |
| Underway at 7 am for Ft Pierce, a 40 mile trip. We arrived at noon. Bonnie Scanlin, who is renting a house in the area, met us and took Carey on a shopping trip. Carey needed a few things before crossing to the Bahamas. I stayed aboard and changed the engine oil. Getting here was fun. Huge homes on the waterway to gawk at. Then we moved down the ICW past small boats, a sailboat hard aground and finally we moored at Harbor Town Marina in Ft Pierce. Bonnie joined us on the boat for wine and talk. We enjoyed looking across the way at SV Bella who has a unique bowsprint ... the dog. See below. | ||
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| Jan 28, 2013 | North Palm Beach Marina, North Palm Beach, FL | |
| We are fortunate people. We left Ft Pierce at 9 am headed 40 miles to the Lake Worth area. We arrived at North Palm Beach Marina at 3 pm, after traveling slow in many no wake areas. We saw beautiful homes along the way including a hidden harbor along the waterway. We noticed a very large sport fisher boat next to its boat house, just 1/10th of the size of the home at the top of the hill. We also noticed a young 2-3 year old enjoying the waterway. It is an all purpose place. After arriving Wayne and Francine showed up and took us to their home for dinner and drinks and an overnight stay. We met them 3 years ago on a trip to the Bahamas. Tomorrow we're staying with them another night to enjoy an area party near their home as the seas between us and the Bahamas are 5+ feet, just a bit to much for us. The weather window for Tuesday is shut down. Next chance for a crossing is this weekend. We'll enjoy time with Wayne and Francine and possibly Bonnie until the weekend. You see, at the last pictures, us at Wayne and Francine's home. | ||
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| Jan 29-30 2013 | North Palm Beach Marina, North Palm Beach | |
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We awoke Tuesday morning still visiting Wayne and Francine. Our plan today was
to help prepare the food for a party this evening, do some laundry, and I
was returning to the boat to fix a broken float switch on the engine room
bilge pump. Carey stayed to help with the food and I borrowed the
family car. I made a stop at West Marine picking up the part I needed
and worked an hour or two getting all up and working. As I left the
boat I noticed the high seas on the Ocean. "Quiet down," I told them.
I returned to Wayne and Francine's home and we made final preparations for the party. Arranged by Wayne but held next door at a friends home, who had a larger Florida Room. Thirty people showed up to partake of a multiple course Lebanese Dinner. It included all the favorite Lebanese dishes that I can not pronounce. And the entire group lived in Palm Beach Gardens and all were French Canadian, a few of Lebanese decent. Luckily most spoke English also and were gracious to us who did not speak French. It was a fantastic party that lasted into the wee hours. We did not take pictures as we were guests and this was a party to met and mingle, not take pictures. Home after the party we had a midnight snack. Up late Wednesday Wayne and Francine took us to the boat. We are now getting ready to move on, we're just a few miles from the Ocean inlet to take us to the Bahamas -- 52 miles away. We may stay in the marina tomorrow then move to an anchorage in Lake Worth on Friday when the wind dies a bit. We'll let the weather decide what we do. |
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| Jan 31 - Feb 1, 2013 | Lake Worth Anchorage, FL | |
| We stayed in the marina Wednesday night. Up early Thursday we cleaned the boat and did laundry. Wayne and Francine stopped by and we drove to Palm Beach, FL for lunch. A beautiful and rich city. You see pictures below of one street and a pavilion. What you don't see is the valet parking in the center of each block ... some people don't like to use parking meters. Back to the boat for some more cleaning after lunch, then up Friday we finished the major cleaning, and watched the visiting pelican, then headed out at noon for Lake Worth anchorage. The wind was up to 20+ knots so we had an interesting hour anchoring in the anchorage, but we safely put the anchor down. With the weather as it is and a good crossing day only available next Tuesday, we'll have a good number of boats headed to West End on that day. I guess the people in the beautiful homes next to the anchorage were not to worried about the blowing wind we were experiencing. | ||
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| Feb 2, 2013 | Lake Worth Anchorage, FL | |
| Up Saturday morning we said ... a few chores and much relaxing! We did that. Mid afternoon two couples from anchored boats showed up to ask if we were crossing to the Bahamas. As the answer was yes, we had to have a glass of wine and decide the plan. It did take more than one glass of wine but we got the plan set. We're all leaving Tuesday morning for the Bahamas. One couple, Al and Maggie are moving north of West End but will travel most of way across with us. Roly and Carol, Canadian citizens will travel with us to West End. We're all hoping the weather holds. Carey and I will anchor at Lake Worth until Monday morning when we'll get underway for a local marina to fuel up, then anchor near the Lake Worth inlet for a fast get a way Tuesday morning. No pictures today but we had a good time drinking wine with our new friends. Tonight we're safely aboard the boat at anchorage. Carey is fixing a simple hamburger meal. | ||
| Feb 3, 2013 | Lake Worth Anchorage, FL | |
| No pictures today. We relaxed, watched some news, worked on the boat, ate well, and watched the Super bowl at anchorage. The weather forecast still says we can cross to the Bahamas on Tuesday. We will move to Old Port Cove Marina tomorrow, top off with fuel, and Carey can make a run to the grocery store. We'll be ready to cross with our two buddy boats on Tuesday morning. We're ready. Hope the weather holds. We're posting this before the game is over ... hope the Ravens win but it does look close. | ||
| Feb 4, 2013 | Old Port Cove Marina, West Palm Beach | |
| Up for coffee at an easy hour, we got underway from the anchorage at 10 am and moved to Old Port Cove Marina in Lake Worth, a move of just under 1 mile. The anchorage was thinning out as a great weather window on Tuesday opens up for a safe and easy trip to the Bahamas. Many boats are moving down to the Lake Worth inlet anchorage, 4 miles from the North Lake Worth anchorage and marina where we are now located. At the marina we refueled just after the large yacht Big Zip took on 1,000 gallons. Glad I did not have to pay his bill. Then Carey and I walked to the "Big Apple Pizza." The pizza was not as great as we remembered from a few years ago but it was ok. Then Carey did her shopping at Publix and we used a taxi to get back to the marina. We'll leave at first light in the morning ... yes we are ready. We have arranged to travel with two trawlers, Tortuga and Rol & C's, that are now anchored near the inlet. We met them at the Lake Worth anchorage. We'll catch them soon after the sun rises and have a great trip over ... we hope! | ||
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| Feb 5, 2013 | West End, Bahamas | |
| We were up early ... 6 am ... to get underway by first light. We are Bahamas bound. We moved smartly south to the Lake Worth Inlet and met up with Rol n C and Tortuga and we headed towards the Bahamas. We had 2-3 foot rollers from the port quarter for the first hour then almost flat seas for the rest of the trip. We saw a home on a barge and a sailboat en route the same destination as we left the Lake Worth inlet. We moved slowly as one of the boats we traveled with, Rol and Cs, had a vibration above 1600 rpms. We traveled at 7 knots most of the way to West End and it took us until 3 pm to reach our destination. You see Rol and Cs behind us in the turning basin of West End ... we were waiting to move to our slip. You also see us tied up at the marina and a picture of us at the marina beach restaurant where we had dinner with Roly and Carole from Rol and Cs. | ||
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