10 April 2011 | Carolina Beach, NC
20 March 2011 | Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island
20 March 2011 | West End, Grand Bahama Island
20 March 2011 | Vero Beach, FL
09 March 2011 | Pipe Creek, Exumas
23 February 2011 | Georgetown, Exumas
18 February 2011 | Georgetown, Exumas
11 February 2011 | Georgetown, Exumas
07 February 2011 | Staniel Cay, Exumas
02 February 2011 | Warderick Wells Cay, Exumas
20 January 2011 | Chub Cay Bahamas
20 January 2011 | Chub Cay Bahamas
15 January 2011 | Coconut Grove, FL
10 January 2011 | Key Biscayne
01 January 2011 | South Florida
09 December 2010 | Hallandale, Fl
07 December 2010 | Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Home once again!
19 April 2011 | NWCM, NC
We left Beaufort, SC and headed for Charleston, SC on the ICW. We had a really great day to travel after having two days of very windy, stormy weather in Beaufort. We ended up anchoring for the night in the Wappoo Creek anchorage. We spent a very quiet nice night there. Then we headed on south through Charleston Harbor/Bay and ended up anchoring the next night in Awendaw Creek. Other stops heading north were Bucksport, North Myrtle Beach, Carolina Beach, NC, Mile Hammock Bay, Cedar Creek and then home. We battled with strong storm fronts every 2-3 days all the way north from Fernandina Beach, FL. We ended up sitting 9 extra days for weather on the trip back home-the most we have ever had on a trip. We had such beautiful weather all winter until just a couple of weeks ago. Now that we are home, we had a wonderful trip to south Florida and the Bahamas. It was absolutely fantastic - a dream trip come true.
Heading North
10 April 2011 | Carolina Beach, NC
We left Vero Beach March 24 heading north. We stopped in Daytona Beach to visit with good boating friends from Lake Erie sailing days and then headed on north to St. Augustine and Fernandina Beach. We ended up being weathered in at Fernandina Beach for six days since we were looking for a weather window to go outside past Georgia. The marina and the moorings/anchorage was full of boats for days as everyone waited for better weather to travel.
We headed out the inlet heading north and we decided to go back in and spend the night anchored at St. Catherine's Sound/Walburg Creek and then finish the trip to Port Royal Sound the next day. The last three hours of the trip in to St. Catherine's Sound was a wild ride. We had really good weather forecasts - but by mid-afternoon we went from 10 knots o wind from the west to 25 knots of wind from the westin less than 30 seconds!!!-gusting to 30 knots. As soon as we made it in to the anchorage (3 hours later) and got the anchor set for the night the winds died to nothing!!!!It was a calm pleasant night to be anchored. Crazy weather!!!! The trip in to Port Royal Sound was uneventful - thankfully.
We ended up staying two extra nights at Beaufort due to yet another front coming through before we could head on North. We've moved a couple of long days to make up some of the miles. Hopefully we will be back in our home port this week - weather permitting.
Happy Hour
20 March 2011 | Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island
3/20/2011
3/20/2011
The gang enjoying happy hour at Lucaya
West End Beach
20 March 2011 | West End, Grand Bahama Island
3/20/2011
On the beach at Old Bahama Bay - West End
Back in the USA!!!
20 March 2011 | Vero Beach, FL
Sunny 80's+/very nice!!
3/20/2011
We arrived back in Florida this week. We left Nassau and headed for the Berry Islands. We had a strong cold front moving in to the Bahamas so we ended up at Great Stirrup Cay and we had to stay there for 3 days to wait out the strong NE winds with 7 other boats. From there we decided to move on to Grand Bahama Island where we went in to a marina at Lucaya for one night. Nice place - the tourist part of Freeport. From there we went to West End on the west side of Grand Bahama Island and we decided that we would cross over to Florida from there. We would have a good weather window to cross the following day so we planned to use the opportunity since the weather report for the next week is not good for crossings.
We loved West End - nice marina and facilities with a couple of restaurants, pool, beach, fitness center, day spa -the works. We went to the beach bar and had a couple of beers. We had dinner tonight on board Midori along with Renaissance.
We left early the next morning - at first light - and headed across the Atlantic to Florida. It was a very long day but we finally anchored at West Palm Beach at 6:30 PM., cleared customs, had dinner on board, made some phone calls, and went to bed.
From West Palm Beach we went to Peck Lake and then came in to Vero Beach to rest, do laundry, groceries, etc. We also went out for a really good cheesburger and fries!! We've been hungry for good cheesburgers for weeks. Our trip to Publix was a delight - fresh produce, fruits, and meat-we bought as much stuff as we could carry back on the bus to the boat.
We've visited with other cruisers here in Vero Beach who we also saw in the Bahamas- for a couple of days. We plan to head out tomorrow morning heading north on the ICW for now.
It's nice to be back in the US - cell phone coverage, wifi 24/7 and the conveniences we take for granted living in the US.
Our trip to the Bahamas was an amazing experience - we had lots of fun and the water was fantastic. We loved it!!
More later. We're going to post some photos too.
Sue & Mark
Party at Pipe Creek Yacht Club
09 March 2011 | Pipe Creek, Exumas
After four days of winds 20+ everyone gathered on the beach and enjoyed a short happy hour!