04/12/2010, Stuart
We had planned to head up to the Berrys Islands for a week, exploring places we had not been yet, with Night Hawk. However, we received a weather report that made us change our plans. It appeared if we stayed we might have to stay longer than we had time for. We did not want to miss a good window to cross the Gulf Stream and if we stayed we faced a week of sitting out some strong NE winds. So we picked up our anchors a half hour after hearing the weather and left for the Florida. Night Hawk needed to return so that they can prepare their boat for storage, perhaps a week sooner than we had planned for Blue Bay. We had a little more time but if we waited we might not get a good weather window for longer than a week. We headed out with them from New Providence where we were anchored in West Bay.
On 4-7-10 we headed out early morning, motor-sailing most of the 30 hours of our crossing. Night Hawk, however, was able to sail almost the entire distance without use of their motor. Where they were able to sail all of 28 hours out of 30 without use of motor, we on the other hand, used the motor all of 28 hours with use of sail only for about two hours. We had winds from the ESE around 17 knots and swells which were not a big problem for the most part. However, our autopilot was not cooperating, and remember the mainsail...well we tore it again, not in the repaired area, but below that. Always a challenge on a boat! We had a very safe crossing, with Night Hawk monitoring boat traffic with their radar and reporting to us when large vessels were headed our way. We stayed pretty close together during the crossing for that reason. We arrived outside of Lake Worth inlet around 1:52 PM on 4-8, and entered the harbor safely, but very tired.
It was a long journey, completing 175 nautical miles in those 30 hours. We anchored safely and captain and admiral slept for around 10 hours! We cleared Customs and Border Protection with only a phone call again this year.
The next day we motored up to the northern anchorage of Lake Worth where we were able to go to a Publix (grocery store) and get fresh and varied fruits and vegetables! Not something you find readily in the Bahamas, so very much appreciated! The next day we traveled to Stuart, where we picked up a mooring at Sunset Bay Marina. We will be staying here to do some preparation for storage before going to Riverside Marina in Fort Pierce to store it for the summer.
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03/31/2010, Sampson Cay
The weather is nice...wish you were here!
At Black Point we had our friends from Night Hawk and Don from Next Exit over for a lobster augratin dinner, prepared by Susan and Nancy. It was a hit! Shortly after that we headed for Big Majors as we were expecting another front! When we arrived Night Hawk had arrived already and shortly after that Sapphire and Fine Lion arrived for the same reason. We sat out the front for a day and a half on the boat, then finally when the winds let up we headed over to Staniel Cay for some (very few) provisions, and dinner at the Yacht Club! It just happened to be Kim and Steve's wedding anniversary on Fine Lion, so we had a chance to celebrate with them, along with other friends on Night Hawk and Sapphire. Fun time and sad time as we had to say goodbye to Sapphire and Fine Lion. We were headed to Sampson Cay. We met up with Jake from Staniel Cay Divers and had a chance to catch up with him. He was our son, Ryan's dive instructor last year; such an energetic young man! He told us about some of his recent dives where he swam with Loggerhead turtles bigger than he is! He has a Lionfish kill scheduled for June and July. These are beautiful and colorful fish that are damaging the habitat of prized lobster and grouper.
Today we are getting together with Night Hawk and planning our return trip to the States. We leave tomorrow and we think we will be spending some time in the Berries Islands on the way back.
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03/27/2010, Black Point, Great Guana Cay
After three long days of sailing yet, we arrived in Black Point, Great Guana Cay safely!
Met up with Susan and Barry on Night Hawk! We plan to meet up and talk about our return trip to the States. Nice to see our friends again.
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