Hurricane Harvey in Texas put a damper on our Sept plans to finish up our Abaco cruising on Caya but Hurricane Irma a few weeks later just flat out cancelled it. The picture is Caya prepped in Marsh Harbor for Irma that never happened there.

While the storm hit the west coast of Florida, at one time it was going right over the top of the Abacos. Having plenty of warning and having it already set up at the Marsh Harbor Boatyard where she was hauled, they already had Caya tied down and I owed Capt Bill Olson a huge favor for flying over and removing the canvas and the sails. Stuff I should have done before I left in May but we had decided so quickly to leave Caya in the Bahamas rather than move her back to Florida, I just didn’t think about it at the time.

So a week after Irma hit Florida and totally missed the Abacos, Capt Bill had a preplanned vacation/delivery to bring Caya back with his girlfriend, Elaine. We were to be on the boat two weeks before and him 7-10 days after with part of that trip moving the boat back to Ft Myers. However after our change in plans, I elected to get Capt Bill to move Caya back to Boca Raton where we had left from nearly a year before and my buddy, John, and I would take a week to get Caya back to Fort Myers.

The plan was to move the boat a day at at time and in daylight hours finding a place to anchor for the night. So we arrived in Boca on October19th. Capt Bill Olson was good enough to pick us up at the airport and loan us his car for provisioning. Fortunately also he fueled and watered up Caya. So we have very little to do but figure out do we go inside down the ICW or offshore. Right now the ICW was looking the best as the winds were 20-22kts from the N to NE.

However when we left the slip on the Slip 20th at 7am it appeared the wind had laid. Capt Bill drove out to the Boca Inlet about 5 miles to our sought and it was a NE breeze. 10-18. So we decided to go out Boca and by pass the 22 bridges we’d have to clear to get to Miami. The Boca inlet is horribly narrow and shallow and you have to get a hell of a lot closer to the jetty rocks that I felt comfortable in but we made it out. We had a great Downwind sail jib only to No name harbor off Key Biscayne and Anchored in 5-7’ water for night. Total time about 8 hours and about 50 miles which was about our longest day of the whole trip. We motorsailed some to keep speed up but when we started hitting 7 consistently the motor was shut off and we sailed.

Oct 21st we were up early and left at 730am . Now it’s Blowing NE—E at 18-20. It was a Rough exit out to Hawk channel, but an hour later we turn south and head to Rodriquez Key. We saied Down wind Jib only to RK and a hoped to anchor in lee of RK but it’s too easterly so a little bumpy but we got as far around to the west of it as we could. We literally got into about 1-2’ under the keel but was ok all evening. As the night wore on the wind did die and it was not so rolly.

Oct 22nd. Up early again and left about 7am. Still blowing hard still NE-E at 18-22. This reef that protects the Hawk Channel obviously has some breaks in and we have rollers some as big as 6-8’ but we’re still on a beam reach to downwind with a Full genoa. We had a Lots of crab traps the day before, but now we have tons and in these seas the are Hard to see. The Channel to marker5 bridge is at a really weird angle to Hawk channel and you can’t cut it due to a large shoal and in these seas and winds if you did, you’d never get off being aground. We Finally get to a point we can make the turn to the Channel 5 bridge. We get through the bridge it’s like night and day (flat). We motored south down to Jewfish hole between the KOA and the marina and anchor at about 4pm which was one of our shortest days. It’s Nice, flat, calm and just 1-2’ under the keel with tide change. This is just a few weeks after hurricane Irma and it’s eerie not seeing many other boats out on this weekend. It’s like everyone has something else to do.

Oct 23rd. We Left about 8am headed for Little Shark River and are wondering do we stay there 1-2 days to wait out a norther that is going to make its way all the way thru the key? In addition, there is a potential tropical storm developing south of Cuba that is expected by the weekend to hit the keys and SE Florida. We were scheduled to fly out of Ft Myers on Friday and as usual it’s hard to get exact dates down on moving a boat. I err on the longer side and move our flight back to Saturday, a $500 change fee but necessary to not be pushing it on a schedule. We got into Little Shark River about 4pm and had 7-8’ of water under keel and 4-5’ at the entrance. This has got to be the most remote area of Florida; no cell service and no civilization at all. If there had been a cabin on the shore and fishing rod, John would have has as well liked to stay here forever.
We’re probably going to stay here two days and wait out the norther that we are told is hitting between 10am and 2pm the next day in Marco Island which is our next destination but is a good solid 60 miles away the the Marco Island Yacht Club Marina. We are accompanied by a 40’ Cat that came in and anchored. It gets dusk and the bugs come out in swarms. We go below to fire up the generator and close up the boat but the Gen won’t start. After some diagnosing it’s obvious in the coming dark we are not going to get it started so I get the no see um screens out quickly and hit every hatch but the head. We are glad Caya has 8 cabin fans to move the air around because even in October there is a bit of humidity. It gets dark fast when there is no civilazation and we turn in early. It also cooled off inside and we slept fine.

We got up the next morning and tried to diagnose the gen and it won’t start. Looking at the weather on the Delorme satellite tracker which for a 2” screen is pretty good, By 9am we decided we think this front is going to be late and the forecast is light air from NE and temps not dropping till the next day so we know the really strong winds are well behind it 8-12 hours. We elect to leave and do at 9:30am. We have to sail nearly West to get around Cape Sable and it’s about 40 miles. We do but winds are light. We’ve left engine running to motor sail closer to the wind. We get around Cape Sable about 1pm and can see the rain and the front coming. Anticipating the rain coming, the enclosure is fully up so we roll down the curtains and wait. The Sails are furled in now as the wind is already on the nose from the NW direction we have turned to go to Marco and the entrance is at the north side of the island so we have 12 -14 miles to go from the turn. At 3 pm it rains HARD and we’re dry in the enclosure. Once again it I’m so glad I spent the money on the enclosure. We’re motoring now in nearly flat seas that are beaten down by the rain and in the fog Marco totally disappears. The storm passes the sun comes back out and the temp has dropped some but winds are only 10-12kts. By 430pm I can get a cell signal and reach Marco Island Yacht Club Marina and get Elmer the harbor master and got us a slip for two nights. The entrance into Marco has this really weird 90 degree turn to starboard that if you have never been in there before, will really throw you off. I wouldn’t do it in the dark unless I had been in here before but I have and we’re pretty sure we can make it if our speed drops any and we can’t make the entrance before dark. However, that didn’t happen we hit the entrance with an hour to spare till sunset and We literally tie up at 7pm just before dark. This has been our longest day yet at 9.5 hours but we’re certain we made the best decision leaving when we did. We we stepped on the dock it had been 4 days since we set foot on land.
We got an Uber to Snook Inn to get a good meal to celebrate that we made the right move leaving Shark, but after dinner we are beat. By the time we get back those light winds have built to 15-18kts.

Oct 24th. The temp has dropped a ton and wind is from NW to N at 20 plus and we once again celebrate that we left Shark as it would have been rough seas and an upwind slug to Marco from there. It would have been 60 miles that there is no way we could have motored it in daylight hours . We use this day to clean up the inside since it really has not been done since she was stored on the hard in Marsh Harbor for 5 months. She looks “clean” inside but is not. Everything from bilge to ceiling gets a good wipe down.
We hit an Uber to get a ride to the palisades area and Hit CJ’s for a late lunch/early dinner. Winds are supposed to lighten to the NE tomorrow which should give us some protection from the land as we motor nearly N to NE to Ft Myers. It’s only 32 miles to the entrance but about 16 miles from there up the Caloosahatchee River to Legacy Harbor Marina in downtown Ft. Myers. Whatever the weather we’re pretty determined we’re moving the boat. We have warm clothes and we have the enclosure We’ll be fine.

Oct 25th. We leave out at 7:15 am and it’s about 50 degrees out (Oh, it never gets cold in South Florida, my A--!). As soon as we clear the dock the enclosure is rolled down. We can tell it’s going to be a near upwind run but John raises the main to give us some stability and we get out to about 15’ of water and head north. The seas are from the NW and the wind is from the NE and it’s weird but that’s what it’s doing. It’s not a bad run just motoring and getting a little power from the main. A bit rolly but as soon as we clear the shallow water off Naples we can start to head closer to land and the seas flatten a bit.

We hit the outer Ft Myers channel mark about 4pm and drop the main under the causeway bridge and start the 2.5 hour motor up the river getting to Legacy about 6pm.

I had commented and subsequently jinxed us by saying it’s amazing Caya has been in the Bahamas for 11 months with 6 months of actual use and very little has broken. Well, We lost the stb bow light cover because the furling line was run incorrectly and it took the cover off.

That subsequently wrapped made the furling line jump the drum and wrap below the drum and subsequently in the process it took the cage that holds the line in loosely around the drum and sent it also flying over the side. The cage must have been a bit loose also for that to happen. Nevertheless I had to order a new cage.
The back up 12” chart plotter from the time we plugged it in, the screen started going out although it was still working. It had flashing lines the whole time on it. Well it was the back up plotter.
The cockpit stb stereo speaker quit working. So two new speakers are coming. I'll keep one for a spare.

The electric furling winch started leaking some oil out of a seal on the motor. So a new seal is being shipped but it stopped leaking.

And the gen set quit working. (Which turned out to just be brushes on the starter and is already fixed)

Our next trip to Caya is for maintenance. Time to give Caya some special attention!