Sailing Sirius

Vessel Name: Sirius
Vessel Make/Model: Sabre 34
Crew: Harry Mertz and Fran Pellikan
About: from Castle Pines, CO
Extra:
2011 - 2012 Bahamas pictures: http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/share/p=595301325265875953/l=3801663028/g=2093690028/cobrandOid=1000/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/otsc=SYE/otsi=SAER Pictures of our Fall 2011 ICW trip can be found [...]
31 March 2014
28 February 2014
19 December 2013
11 December 2013 | Hone Sound, FL
03 December 2013 | Vero Beach, FL
19 November 2013 | St. Augustine Nov 12 - 14
10 November 2013 | Green Cove Springs, FL
07 November 2013 | Green Cove Springs
30 October 2013 | Green Cove Springs, Fl
18 May 2012
27 April 2012
11 April 2012
05 April 2012
Recent Blog Posts
13 June 2014

Apr 23 - 29 Getting back to Florida

April 23 – 24

26 April 2014

Apr 14 - 22 Palm Cay Marina

April 14 - 22

20 April 2014

Mar 23 - Apr 13 Heading North

Williams Bay, Little Farmers, and Heddys Land

31 March 2014

Mar 6 - 22 Great Exuma

March 6 - 9

28 February 2014

Feb 2 - 20 Eve's Visit

Feb 2 - 20 Eve's visit

Jan 9 - Feb 1 Staniel Cay and Blackpoint

25 January 2014
Jan 9 - 11
Big Majors, Staniel Cay
Sunny and warm (80's)
Had a nice sail south to Big Majors anchorage. This is a huge anchorage where we have seen 50+ boats. Only about 20 boats are here now. Played Texas Hold 'Em with several cruising couples aboard a large power catamaran, Pretty Penny.
A long dingy trip in to town. There are three grocery stores of decreasing size on Staniel Cay. The largest is Isles General which is about the size of a 7-11. They have a variety of items, including fresh produce, dairy and meat, non-alcoholic drinks, canned goods, boat supplies and sundry items. A little of everything a boater might need.
Spent a few hours at Pirate Beach, a small beach off the anchorage where several of the power boaters have built a nice place to relax with picnic tables, buffet table, grill, chairs, tiki torches, and games. They hang out there most afternoons and others are welcome.

Jan 12 -13
Blackpoint
Had a nice, slow sail to Blackpoint about seven miles south of Staniel Cay. Blackpoint is a lovely small settlement that is very cruiser friendly. They have a very nice Laundromat, the only one between Nassau and Georgetown. We washed 4 loads.
Our favorite restaurant, Lorraine's, has been spiffed up with new paint outside and a beautiful mural inside painted by a cruiser, Penny, on Pretty Penny. We enjoyed on of Lorraine's wonderful Bahamian BBQ buffet which included ribs, chicken, lobster bits, red snapper, conch fritters, mac & cheese, and peas & rice. The second night we had a great veggie pizza at another restaurant, DeShamon's.
Wanted to stay longer but BP is not an all-weather anchorage. With strong westerlies predicted, we needed to move. Scored a loaf of Lorraine's mom's wonderful coconut bread which makes the best French toast.

Jan 14 - 22
Thunderball Grotto, Staniel Cay
We sadly said goodbye for now to our friends Cathy and Tom on Interlude. They continued south to Georgetown. We will stay in the central area for the next several weeks. Daughter Eve will arrive Feb. 2 for a 2 week visit.
Thunderball Grotto is featured in the old James Bond movie Thunderball. You can snorkel there at low tide and get into a small cave with an opening to the sky. People take bread and are rewarded with many beautiful reef fish. There is a small anchorage nearby that is fairly protected from all directions and a good place to weather a front. Cold fronts have been coming every 2 - 3 days which is unusual. Cerulean was anchored here when we arrived. They have friends staying at the Staniel Cay Yacht Club and will host them aboard for a few days after that.
The Staniel Cay Yacht Club is a center of cruiser and mega yacht activity. Huge power yachts tie up at their docks. Cruisers use the club to get mail flown in, buy fuel and water, or visit the bar or restaurant. SCYC also has guest cottages where folks can vacation with an all-inclusive package that includes all meals, water sports equipment and a skiff.
Went into town almost every day as it is an easy dingy ride. We brought ponchos this trip which come in handy is the dingy ride will be "wet" as in wave splashed. The ponchos work well to keep us and whatever we are carrying dry.
The mail boat came in the second day. It is wonderful to visit the stores right after the mail boat b/c that is when you will find the best selection of food items and the freshest fruits and veggies. We bought delicious pineapple, strawberries and blueberries.
Even better, we saw one of the local fishermen that we know at the dock cleaning his catch. We purchased fish fillets, lobster tails and conch. Great eating ahead! Spotted a sea turtle right next to our boat. He was diving down to the sea grass below.
Our friend Ben, single-hander on Loon, stayed a night at the anchorage so we joined him for happy hour on this boat.
Cerulean had a problem with their generator and Harry helped Chris get the generator apart and pull out the impeller. Chris needed to order a new impeller to make the fix which he can do at Staniel Cay. Watermaker Air flies in people, mail, and packages to the yacht club. As a thank you, Chris and Robin took us to dinner at SCYC. The dinner there is very good with several courses including dessert. We had a great time.

Jan 23 – Feb 1
Blackpoint
Finally got favorable wind enabling us to have another nice sail back to BP. Celebrated with happy hour at Scorpios, a sport bar. Met up with Bob and Penny again from Pretty Penny. Next morning, Fran joined Penny and Gigi from Salty Turtle to walk the beach and look for sea glass. Good exercise and fun to find little treasures in the sand. In the afternoon, a local fisherman was going boat to boat selling lobsters and we purchased one lobster tail. We cut the tails in half and cook them in the shell on the grill with just a little olive oil, seasoning and lime. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Spent over a week at BP and enjoyed several happy hours at Scorpio’s with friends, BBQ dinner conch burger lunch and at Lorraine’s. Lorraine makes the most tender and delicious conch burger we have tasted. Collected more sea glass on the beach. Harry changed the underwater zincs on a calm day and Fran swam off the boat. The cool sea felt very good on a hot day. Star gazed. More lobster on the grill.
Took on-shore showers at the laundry which were very nice and clean. Great to stand under running water for 8 minutes! We normally take sea showers on the boat which means rinse down, soap up, rinse off turning off the water between steps. We carry about 90 gallons of water and it all has to be hauled aboard, so we try to conserve water usage.
The supply boat was a couple of days late due to a problem with a crane in Nassau. Lots of cruisers were lined up at the grocery waiting for fresh supplies. If you were not there right after the boat, you would not have much to fresh fruits or veggies or dairy to pick from. We were there early and got the basics: oranges, apples, cabbage, green pepper, romaine, celery, bananas and limes. Nothing exotic. Also no bread or potatoes.
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