Most of the people we talk to act like time at sea is just above having fingernails pulled on the pleasure scale. Accordingly, they plan short hops down the Florida ICW to West Palm or Ft. Lauderdale, and then zip across the Straits of Florida to the Bahamas as fast as possible. Of course, heading down the ICW requires motoring, and then the trip across the straights is also difficult to sail, so they motor there. One person proposed the alternative of motoring straight to the banks, about a 24 hour trip with the diesel running the entire time.
After finding someone who has actually sailed there, our current plan is to wait for a weak front to bring winds from the SW or W, then head out with the winds aft of the beam long enough to cross the gulf stream, before the winds clock around to the NE and kick up the waves too much. That should let us get to the Abacos with a minimum of motoring. At the worst, we head east until we can beat back to the islands. If worst comes to worse, we can always turn on the engine and arrive lighter than planned.
Other than planning the trip to the Bahamas and what to do once we get there, boat projects continue here in Ponce Inlet as we see our friends on San San also work on their projects in anticipation of their departure in two days. We are also planning for another trip, the first week in November to Orlando, for the Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association (DEMA) show. Our friends Rich and Amy will be in town during the end of our week there so we hope to catch up and perhaps host them in Ponce.
Last weekend two of the boats from our marina were fishing and came back with loads of fish, so we got some fresh red snapper that Linda prepared with dill and sautéed onions, delicious! Thanks, Gabe and Eric! We paired it with our first attempt at Dark & Stormy's with homemade ginger beer. Not bad, but not as much bite as we're used to. More ginger in the next batch.
Linda has learned that her "how-to" article for Southwinds magazine on the sail pack she made will be published in two parts, either Nov. & Dec. or Dec. & Jan. issues. If you want to read it, watch for it online at
Southwinds Magazine link. We've chosen to purchase rather than make a large shade awning for the boat. The ShadeTree awning will arrive soon. Once set up we will look forward to a cooler boat in more ways than one! Linda has now tackled the big job of replacing the plastic windows in our dodger, which were a bit fogged and cracked. The difference between a replacement dodger and the replacement plastic is about $1500, so a success here is another big boost in our cruising money. In addition to the dodger being off, the weather cooled off for a few days allowing us to open the hatches & enjoy "leaving the front door open", very nice and reminiscent of previous sailing trips. The temps are now back in the 90s, so the air is on and hatches closed, but we know it's only a matter of weeks before those cooler days return.
Chris is still waiting on the acrylic to replace in the hatch, so that project is stalled. We did find a bargain overstock on laminate at a cabinet shop, so we got enough to cover the patched bulkheads in the aft head and have those repairs cosmetically improved. He also replaced some burnt out LEDs and replaced some questionable breakers and connectors while behind the electrical panel. "THE LIST" is down to about 25 items, with the expectation of getting about half of those done prior to departing for the Bahamas. I can almost hear Crusty say "Good luck with that!" Of course, THE LIST can't interfere with Monday Night Football, the new seasons of House and NCIS, etc...if you're planning on visiting us in the islands, better DVR the shows and bring them along!