The boat was listed 'FOR SALE' in August 2024.

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Charlie and Eileen had been thinking about when to stop cruising. We spent 8 winters on TARDIS and traveled 6,243nm in 1,327hrs underway. We anchored 827 nites in 320 different beautiful places. We called the Bahamas home 10 months over 4 winters. Our travels took us to the Abacos twice (before & after Dorian) and once each at the Exumas, Berry's, and Eleuthra island groups. We made several trips to the Keys and explored extensively both the west and east coasts of the southern half of Florida along the ICW. We improved our skills at draw bridges and enjoyed all the challenges. Check out the map tab on the blog, click on any yellow flag, look and read about our experience there.

Somehow we had all these adventures without a single major incident to us or the boat. It just makes sense to move on now while it's good. Why test fate and risk injury to ourselves or our beautiful boat. There is so much we want to see yet in the US and road tripping is our thing. The time is now to move on.

TARDIS is TURN KEY and ready to continue cruising. Maintenance has been done as if we were heading out to cruise ourselves safely. We have our health and there's more we want to see and do on land. She has treated us well in good weather and bad. She never let us down. She is a good boat and has many years left. They don't make them like they used to.

Thank you to all that have followed our journey. Hopefully there will be one more post soon with a SOLD sign.

TARDIS was hauled & blocked on Monday, March 4th, 2024. This photo was taken upon arrival to the Indiantown Marina on the 1st of March, before decommissioning began. A lot has happened since that day.

Charlie returned to the marina in May 2024. The boat was moved to the work lot for maintenance and repair. Due to UPS shipping error (one box of two went by truck thru California from Ohio), meaning a two week delay. What should have taken 2 weeks, took 4, and cost a whole lot more!





It was hot. Improvising was essential. Meredith loaned a window air conditioner which kept the cabin about 10 degrees below the outside temp. Reducing the humidity made 80 inside during night feel comfortable.







Big Jobs: The bottom was prepped and painted; rudder removed and pintel replaced; Starboard rudder fairing replaced; cockpit drain hose replaced; hull buffed & waxed (4x's!); chain plate covers removed and caulking replaced; leaking deck hardware removed, cleaned and reinstalled; one cabin port removed, and reinstalled; several new ceiling panels installed inside. Lots of Small Jobs and other routine maintenance. The marina was hired to lift the boat and make the centerboard operational and replace the cutless bearing on the prop shaft.

Rudder


























Centerboard


Cutless Bearing




Opening Port Cabin






Ceiling Panels






After long month on the hard, sleeping aboard in 100+ temps, TARDIS was moved back to the storage area





Then all this stuff had to be packed in the truck for the trip home.



While there, Charlie made the difficult decision to sell TARDIS. Late in July a broker was in place and the process of listing began.

TARDIS began the trek back to the US on Friday, February 9th. The first leg took us 45.8nm to Rose Island in about 7.5hrs. We had wind. It was supposed to be a broad reach but turned out to be close reach. TARDIS sails to wind well but not fast enough to get there in daylight, so we motor sailed with full main & jib. Averaged 6.2k.

We had a 50/50 choice. Rose Island runs East-West. Wind was east. Which side would be better for rolling? We choose north side of island - wrong choice, rocked and rolled all night. Miserable. It was beautiful and it looks like a sand harvest is underway.





Nassau Harbour Transit

We got going early Saturday morning looking forward to going east to west through Nassau Harbour. It's a busy place. You must radio harbour patrol and get permission to enter.

One of the first vessels we saw was 'HOME'. The star of last years Below Deck Med.



Next up - twin bridges consolidating the two way traffic.







Then it's the cruise ship docks. There is about a 50 yard usable channel along the east side of the cruise ships that just about everyone must go through. No homeland security here to keep you away.







Aramak Cay - Crystal Cay Marine Park

We exited the west end and rounded an island to get to the anchorage that we thought would keep us out of the rolling NE swell. Only 1 boat there, not a good sign. We anchored about 200' off the west end of Aramak Cay. It is the barge, tug boat and salvage area of Nassau Harbour. We should have known something was up when a tug boat captain asked the other boat to move. But not TARDIS.

On Sunday morning at dawn operation "move big salvage car ferry" got underway. A few hours later the operation was over. The biggest of the tug boats was only about 50' from TARDIS' bow pushing the big ship into the warf. Interesting but scary.





This is the old Crystal Cay Marine Park. At one time it had tubes under the water and the space needle you could walk in to observe marine life. Note the cruise ship behind the needle leaving Nassau Harbour.



Later on Sunday we dropped 'Space Patrol' in and journeyed up the passage to Fish Fry for lunch. Interesting 2nm side trip.







The tide was out on the return trip. Only bottomed out a few times. The brown area in the shallows contain Conch Farms where they raise and harvest conch for area restaurants.







Last days in the Bahamas - leg 2

We left Nassau for Fraziers Hog Cay on Monday, Feb 12th. It was a 35nm sail without the motor running. Seas were rough with 4-6 waves from multiple directions but a broad reach in good wind kept TARDIS rolling along. We completed the trip in 7 hours and anchored for two nights with no rocking.

Leg 3: Berrys to Bimini - Longest of return trip

TARDIS was moving at 1st light at 5:30am on Valentines Day (Wednesday) heading to Bimini 89nm away. Sunrise and Sunset on the banks.





TARDIS rounded north rock at Bimini about 7:30pm, we dropped sail and motored the last hour to Alice Town Beach (Radio Hill) and anchored in the dark a couple hundred yards off the beach that we could not see.

The trip across the banks was smooth. Not much in the way of waves. Wind was just forward of the beam again so we kept the motor running to keep pace all day and made the trip at an average speed of 6.1k.

This was taken in the morning as we pulled away just before sunrise.



Anchor Down - Lake Sylvia, Ft Lauderdale - 4pm Thursday, February 15, 2024

TARDIS made great time. 9hrs, 18m; 53.9nm. Main with one reef, dead downwind; motor running 2500rpm. Sloppy seas: Ocean swell NE 8-10', wind chop SE 2-4', wind about 10k SE-SW. It was a rough ride rolling about but no banging as if going up wind. The auto helm steered the entire way. At the beginning there was allot of ship traffic that we had to maneuver around. We never really got close to any ship. It was a beautiful sunny day, few white clouds. And when we got to Lake Sylvia there was a place to anchor!

Don't know if there will be more blog entries or not. If not, means it was uneventful trip. We've got a couple weeks, give or take, to get to Indiantown Marina to haul out and get home to see family and friends mid March. If we don't do another entry, thanks for following along!

ALONS Y

As we were leaving the south end of Eleuthera and Rock Sound this unusual rainbow appeared. Beautiful last memory of a great place. We dropped anchor 20nm to the north at Kemp's Bight where we spent one night on our way to Government Harbour for a couple of days while the weather was good.

Government Harbour

We were excited to go to the Fish Fry on Friday night, the day we got there. Fish Frys are fund raisers for local churches and seem to take place in many settlements in Eleuthera. In Rock Sound we were anchored in front of the fish fry but did not go to shore. We listened to the very loud island DJ playing island rap geared to the island residents. Here the DJ geared the music to tourists, playing American music we all danced to in the 90's. Quite different. We went and the food was excellent.





Our dinghy landing at low tide with TARDIS in the background.



We would have liked to stay longer, but again another front in the El Nino Winter was approaching. We wanted to get back to Hatchett Bay Harbour and great protection for what was being billed as the biggest blow in 20 years in the Bahamas!

Hatchett Bay Harbour Storms

We arrived on Sunday, January 28th and were able to anchor in a great spot in the NW corner of the bay for the first (little) mini cold front before the main event would arrive at the end of the week. Did you know it could HAIL in the Bahamas? Well it can AND it did. About the size of marbles.



Island residents later told us they had never seen hail before and they were not young people.

The blow happened and our anchor held. We were in 7' at low tide that got down to close to 6' with the new moon extreme tide. We draw 4'6". That's getting close. Charlie stayed on anchor watch in the squalls, meaning full foul weather gear, motor running and ready to put in gear. He also stayed at the helm steering the boat as it reached the outer limits of the anchor line to keep some pressure off the anchor. We didn't have much room before grounding. Note the water depths.





There were two large squalls. The first one was with the hail in daylight. The second happened in the middle of the night beginning around 2am. We watched a sailing cat that was anchored next to us drag into the mangroves with the owners and crew ashore. No damage done. Over the course of the day several more boats re-anchored due to dragging. TARDIS held fine with 115' of chain or 8:1 at High Tide. You still worry and watch but we were not concerned about other boats dragging into us since we were the windward boat in the anchorage for the biggest of the north winds.

During our 12 day stay this boat was our neighbor.



Alicetown, Eleuthera - 12 days

Spending 12 days in one location gave us lots of time to eat ashore or get carry out between the storms and to explore. We like Alicetown!

Walk to the Beach & Mini Fish Fry

We hiked to the beach and were not disappointed that we did.









We took books, find Eileen?





On the way back we happened upon a fund raiser for local first responders. Great music(DJ), dancing, food and Kalik Beer. GREAT FIND!







Damaged Building - prior Hurricanes

You can't help but notice the damage that prior Hurricanes caused on many islands, some 50 years ago. Eleuthera has had it's share.











School - for our grand children

Throughout the islands there are schools, and school was in session this day. This is the grade school.





Carryouts & Eating Places

There are many options for food. Every one we tried was very good. Fresh seafood is often available but not always if the fisherman can't get out due to the weather. There's almost always Peas & Rice, Mac & Cheese, Cole Slaw and the best French Fries. Fresh Grouper anything is to die for. We picked up food from these places.









This was so good, we went back a 2nd time!



While we were waiting on our carryout the POLICE did a walk about - meet and greet. Yes, they stopped and talked to us and took our photo with the Commissioner. Anyone watch 'Death in Paradise' on BBC? Oh my, we are there!





We were just walking down the street and a man stopped us and told us we should go in here. Bar with food. Se glad we did. We met the most interesting people and the band too.






That's not a TUBA!

Find the little birdie?


When going ashore in Hatchett Bay there is a very nice dinghy dock that is maintained by Emmette of Boater's Haven. Great Hospitality and he entertains, too!



Other Alicetown Sites

That's TARDIS at the end of one of the best dinghy docks we've used in all of the Bahamas.





Eleuthera Island is more laid back than the other island chains we have visited and spent any amount of time in. We are so happy we made the effort to come straight to the area having crossed the Northeast Providence Channel New Years Day. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. No matter where we go and who we meet it's the same. This gentle soul we met today.



We're in her kitchen where she prepares meals 7 days a week for anyone who stops by her small carry out off the main road (Queen's Highway).



We stopped there 2 times before, looking for fish fry dinner but with the high winds the fisherman were not getting out. But she went through the extra effort to get fresh Conch, Lobster and Grouper yesterday just to make us two dinner for only $50. The dinners included Mac/Cheese, Cole Slaw, Rice & Peas and two cold Kalik's (beers). We learned alot about her during our 3 visits, and met one of her 11 siblings, who remembered us walking down the street while he was washing a car for someone and he stopped us to say 'HI'. Her name is Ingrid and she was born in Hatchett Bay just up Queen's Highway. She had a thriving restaurant in Abaco when Hurricane Dorian hit and lost everything. She is rebuilding her business here where her 90 year old mother lives. Oh and when we told her we were from Indiana she lit up. She's a basketball fan and follows the Pacers!

Earlier on the same day when we were walking 3nm to the other side of the island and the pink beach we met Warren, local artist. That's Warren working.



This is his studio. It's on all 4 corners of FISH ROAD and 3rd street. He stopped us as we walked through and told us about all the things we were going to see on our walk. And he did not try to sell us anything, just smiled and laughed as he talked.







We're taken aback by all the artwork on display throughout Rock Sound. No doubt this is Warren's influence.







There's a BLUE HOLE in town. It's an OCEAN HOLE centuries old. Rumor has it Christopher Columbus first landfall was Eleuthera and he may have been there.



It's over 600' deep and connected to the Atlantic.



Just up the road from Warren's is the school. On the way back from the Pink Beach we could hear Junkanoo music. Turns out it was grade school students practicing drums, whistles, bells and other percussion for the Junior Junkanoo in April (their school has won the competition 3 times!)



Road to the Pink Beach







And when you think you've seen the most beautiful beach in the islands you find another...







Sammy's Place is another spot we found with great food, people and reasonable prices. It's more like a waffle house type place with just about anything you might want.



Beers come with a hat for only $5



Other sites walking about Rock Sound









From TARDIS at Rock Sound





There's always boat work. Our lower anchor light that is hung on the end of the boom got water in it and corroded. Charlie used the first day at anchor pulling out the electric kit and made the repair.





37nm Sail Hatchett Bay to Rock Sound

With strong east trade winds coming we took the opportunity to head to the southern part of the island and about the last safe anchorage with things to do for about a week. It was going to be close to the wind in light air so motor sailing with a reef in the main was the ticket to 6k of speed and a short 7 hour daylight trip.







Trip to Cape Eleuthera - Southern end of the island

We met Daniel, proprietor of Twin Brothers, in Hatchett Bay. He introduced us to Dean, car rental company. Dean, a huge NBA fan, asked us how Larry Bird is doing. So, we talked BB.

Dean brought us a nice Chevy SUV for the day. Our first stop was Gregory Town.







Most of the day was spent driving to Cape Eleuthara at the south end of the island. There are no good safe anchorages off the southern shores. There is a marina with docks at the Cape that we wanted to see and find out what they cost before going there. They look good, cost $3.50/ft per night. That's $130 plus 10%VAT. Not us.



Some sights on our 100m drive.









Other Days to Remember

Glass Window Bridge

We anchored TARDIS at Goulding Cay about 500' from shore in 7' of water in white sand with great holding. The wind was going to be light and variable for a couple days which gave us time to dinghy to the bridge, go to shore, and hike.

From the water


From above the Atlantic side


This tells the history if you can read it on your device


There's quite a bit of traffic on the Queens Highway that runs the length of the Eleuthera Island so you have to be careful walking here.



There's a blow hole here. It was barely spitting the day we were there but they say it blows 30+ feet.





Queen's Bath

Just south of the bridge is the Queen's Bath. It is natures hot tub. At high tide on the Atlantic the pools fill with water, the tide goes down and the water stays warming in the sun. We went both at low and high tide which are 6 hours apart. Can you tell the difference?







Here's our perch. We never found the path to the pools below.





This is the Goulding Cay Anchorage and public beach.


The area is known for farming. Here's the area we walked through to get to the bridge and bath.





These termite nests are everywhere. Some cruisers were talking on the radio about being invaded by termites on their boat. Do not Disturb!



Cow and Bull Rocks. These were moved by the power of the waves sometime in the past.



This is what the bay coast looks like near the bridge and in Goulding Cay.





Spanish Wells - Golf Carting

After the cold front passed, we went back to Spanish Wells for 3 nights and spent 2 more days ashore. Spanish Wells is a large settlement and there's alot to see so we rented a golf cart for a day. BIG FUN! And good practice for Charlie driving on the left before renting a car later.



We found directions



And the Beach Bar & Grill for lunch



Russell Island is the 2nd island where more people live. We went to the east end and walked on the sand bars at low tide. Amazing place!







We found an area of docks that was blasted out of the land for what looks like up to 50 boats. Fascinating place but would not want to enter the area if the seas are rough. Here's the entrance.









More Island pics







Back on TARDIS, one of the commercial fishing vessels passing closely



And an adventure boat...we're not going on



Royal Island Harbour - Storms

After our 1st trip to Spanish Wells we went back for another front. This is a good anchorage but we did drag and had to re-anchor when the wind flopped 180 in about 5 minutes and the anchor did not reset. Thankful for the warning from the anchor alarm.





After the storm another beautiful sunset and our fellow cruisers.





Entrance to Royal Harbour, 4nm from Spanish Wells.