Spanish Wells and onto the Exumas

We sat in Spanish Wells for a total of four days while a couple fronts passed through. We had one catamaran pull to the mooring in front of us that we had met briefly in Green Turtle the day we checked in. Soon came 3 other big Catamarans and within the couple days there became acquainted. The men hunted together and we would meet on each others boats in the evening for sundowners and pot lucks. We were all headed the same direction so we planned to travel together for a while. Unfortunately, on the 5th when it was nice and calm dirk decided to take the drone for a fly around the anchorage. Some malfunction and we watched it hover momentarily before it just dove right into the water. We hopped in the dinghy to try and retrieve it. Dirk dove in and said it was still smoking under the water. Sucks because we know we got some awesome footage and it was all lost. Oh well, such is life and it was fun while it lasted. We headed back to Renegade and made our way to Current Cut where we would anchor for the night. At slack tide we all took the dinghies through the cut and tied them to ours. I took the dinghies through while everyone else did a drift snorkel. It was quiet fast so at the other end I picked them all up headed back through and did it again. They all loved it and did what they could to hang onto the rock ledges to slow themselves down. This time when at the end they all putted around for a while before the sun started to drop in the sky and it was time to head back to the boats. The following day we picked up anchor and headed to one our favorite spots in Eleuthera, Hatchet Bay. We set the hook and the others took mooring balls. Then we hopped in the dinghy and drove over to the government dock to drop off garbage and stop in to see if Gina and Francis from The Front Porch were around and if they would be open for dinner. They were and we made plans to see them for dinner before we headed down the long road to the beach on the other side of the island. We passed the usual herd of goats and sheep that hang out and made it to the beach where Dirk found several sea beans and I found several great pieces of sea glass.

 

 

cool little hole in the harbor that led to the ocean side so on low tide it sucked it out of the harbor

Back to the boat, quick showers and back to The Front Porch where just about all of our crew was already there. We were the only customers that evening and we ate and drank the evening away. Great times were had by all before we retired back to the boats.

new friendships being made

We needed to make Rock Sound the next day as a big blow was coming and we needed the shelter of the bay so we pulled out of Hatchet Bay early headed south. We did have a couple dolphins swim with us for a while and I got some great video of them. So cool seeing dolphins in such clear water. As we got close to Rock Sound we found some reefs in the middle of nowhere, anchored the boats and dove in for a snorkel. We were surprised at how many Lion Fish we saw and the guys took turns doing target practice on them. They say if you see them kill them. They are very invasive and need to be halted as they aren't suppose to be here and are depleting the lobster and grouper. Shortly after we pulled into Rock Sound and tucked into the North West corner where we would be sheltered from the winds that night. We all had a pot luck aboard S/V Almost There before heading back. The next morning the winds were due to clock around and come from the west so we picked up anchor and made our way to the other side of the bay. We anchored close to S/V Chanceux who we had met in the Abacos. The winds howled all day and both Dirk and I stayed put on the boat all day doing chores. The next day the winds started to calm down so in the afternoon we took the opportunity to hit the local supermarket to restock some food and later a bunch of cruisers all got together to have drinks and discuss the next days crossing to the Exumas.

beautiful sunset to end the day

And the crew once again

Next morning the anchorage emptied out as we all made our way across the Exuma Sound to various points. Our group decided to head to Highborne Cay to wait out yet another front that was due to pass through. Guess its that time of year....

 

Tahiti Beach Abacos to Eleuthera

We left Tahiti Beach once the tide was high enough for us to get through the shallows. We headed to Snake Cay which has a wonderful dinghy trail that takes you through the flats. It must be done on a rising tide or you will get stuck dragging your dinghy the last part. We spotted lots of cushion starfish, several sting rays and turtles.

 

 

old rusted building

 In the beginning you can find spotted eagle rays as they like to hang out in the deep hole at the entrance. Dirk got some great underwater video with his go pro of several critters. After we got back to the boat we headed south to Lynyard Cay and found the anchorage to be pretty full. This anchorage is popular as it is where most people will jump out of to head to Eleuthera. That was our plan but not for a couple days. We set the anchor and waited for low tide to head over to the beach. Since low tide was close to dark we didn't get much beach covered and made plans to return the next day.

Dirk anchoring the dinghy

 

 

Selfie

 

 

sea glass picked up on the beach
 

 

The following morning many of the boats had left and we were one of the few left. We made the decision that we would use high tide to get into Little Harbor and spend an evening in there. Its a very small harbor with mooring balls and a favorite of ours, Pete's Pub. Since we had to wait for high tide we took the opportunity to walk the beach again. Since this beach is not often walked we scored, or should I say Dirk did. He found 5 heart sea beans and 2 hamburger sea beans. I found a pretty good amount of sea glass so I was happy. Back to the boat where we took the time to make a bit of water and stow a few things in preparation of getting into Little Harbor. We could see the waves crashing on the high cliffs. We would have to get through this to get to the calm waters inside. It wasn't pretty but we got through it. I was sitting in the cockpit wedged in and had Butters wedged under my legs trying to keep him from sliding around. He never fights me in these situations as I think he knows I'm trying to help. Once we got past the rough water we then had to worry about the shallows. We only bumped the bottom once but we know there is only sand on the bottom so no harm no foul. Once in we spotted a mooring and I picked it up tying us securely. Time to relax....we decided to have a late lunch at Pete's Pub and enjoyed a wonderful juicy burger, pineapple and walnut coleslaw and rice & corn. Of course we had to partake in a Blaster. Their signature drink. We were good and only had one, its easy to want more as they are very tasty and go down much to easy. They do have a kick though. We met some cruisers and hung out chatting for an hour or so before calling it a night and heading back to Renegade. The next morning I had plans to walk the beach and Dirk wanted to fly his drone over Little Harbor. Another successful flight although it was a bit windy, he got some great footage. I was a bit unimpressed with the beach. For being right there behind a business I was amazed at how much garbage there was. I know its hard to keep the beach clean when you have so much tanker trash, large ropes, floats, and in general lots of plastic. Just feel like if someone picked up one bag of garbage daily then it would be nicer. But that seems par for the beaches that face the Atlantic. After returning to the boat I took Dirk out conch trolling. Its where we let a line in the water so he can be behind the boat 15 feet or so and I drive the dinghy around over the grassy patches. He covers more ground this way and when he sees a conch he yanks on the rope which can be felt and ai stop. He dives down, retrieves it and we move on. He got his limit of six and we returned to the boat as it was fairly rough in the cut. He gave two of the conchs to the people we met the evening before and Dirk was left with four that he disassembled and put into the fridge for salads. We had to wait for high tide to leave the harbor so we both piddled till time to go. With the moon phase the tide was a bit higher and we got out with no problem and went back over to Lynyard Cay to stage for our crossing. The following day several boats left but we wanted to wait one more day as the winds were to be more in our favor. They were going to be light but if they are we at least want them to be out of the right direction. I prepped food for the crossing as I usually do and we were in bed early as we had a 5 am wakeup. We wanted to be hitting the cut at daybreak. By 5:30 am we were pulling the anchor in the dark and making tracks south. 30 minutes later we were going out the cut along with 11 other boats. Guess it was the day to go, after all, it was New Years Eve, what better way to spend it. After setting the sails we sat back and relaxed finishing up our coffee. We had to motor sail as the winds were too light to do much good. About an hour into our trip Dirk's reel was hit. We got our first Mahi of the season. It wasn't too big, good size though and it looked like a small bull.

Dirk set about filleting him up and putting him in the fridge. Soon after Dirk got a hit on his reel that took all the 80lb test line off. He could not slow the fish down even a little. It was just a constant scream of the line being pulled out. Oh well, guess we will never know what it was. We don't think it was a Mahi as they will usually jump once hooked. Dirk and a few others think it may have been a Tuna. If it was that big, we probably could not have landed it anyway. Plus it would have cut into our trip time. Several hours passed uneventful and we started to see Eleuthera come into view. As we were approaching the drop off point Dirk made sure the lines were grass free and ready to catch fish. Every year but one we have successfully landed something in the spot. I took the helm and as we approached I zig zagged between the 200 and 500 area of depth. I heard Dirk say from the back, "here they come" I didn't realize what he was saying till both reels started screaming. I set the boat on auto and neutral. We still had sails up so they would keep us on course and hopefully not too fast. I grabbed one reel as Dirk grabbed the other and started reeling. Unfortunately the lines got crossed and we had quiet the fiasco trying to undo them without losing the fish. I figured we would lose at least one but they both stayed on the line. Once I got mine to the boat I put the rod back in the holder and set about helping Dirk land his. We had to gaff it as it was too big to net. We finally got her on board and of course she was not happy. Dirk had put his fish whacker up and I wasn't sure where. He was too busy trying to body slam this thing into submission to hear me. I'm running around and finally find it, pass it on and walk away. This part is always hard for me but is a necessary evil. I ran downstairs and found some 7&7 to pour into her gills and help her make her passage into the afterlife a bit more easy. So in the meantime we still had this other one on the line in the water. There was also another right below her unhooked but staying with her. We have heard that they will stick together and if you want to catch multiple fish leave one on the line. This would be her lucky day as we had enough fish already today. No need to be greedy. She was fairly good size but we were finally able to land her in the net and get her aboard to unhook her. She was thrashing so much I thought she might kill herself so Dirk worked as fast as possible and finally got the hooks out and threw her back overboard. At first she seemed a bit stunned but finally took off and dove away.

Next on our agenda would be to get the boat back on course to enter the cut at Egg Island. I took her in as Dirk filleted the other fish and bagged it up with the other one. 1 1/2 gallon size bag of Mahi steaks, not bad for a day of travel.

nice bowl of meat

what a bloody mess

We decided to anchor at Meeks Patch close to the entrance of Spanish Wells and we would decide tomorrow if we stayed here, moved into Spanish or headed south to Current Cut as there was a cold front approaching the states and we weren't sure when it would make it here and how bad. it was New Years Eve yet we knew we weren't making it to midnight so we sat in the cockpit with a sundowner watching a beautiful sunset and toasting 2014 away.

 

By the way, seeing as this is the last day of the month I will give you Dirk's hunting totals. Mahi 3, lobster 20, hog fish 2, conch 15. The following morning we were up before the sun as seems like the case many days these days and had coffee in the cockpit listening to Chris Parker for his weather report. The wind direction and strength made us decide to head into Spanish Wells to see if we could pick up one of Bandits mooring balls. We made our way to the mooring field after we got our assignment and had our plan of attack figured out. The winds were already blowing pretty good and it was low tide in a small tight mooring field. I would let Dirk drive and I would pick up. It proved to be tricky and after a couple of attempts with the wind pushing us around I managed to grab and secure the line as this family on the boat next to us just stared at us like we were an attraction to see. Come on people, if you see a boat coming into a dock, a mooring ball, or any place that is tight and needs to tie up offer assistance. The guys dinghy was already in the water and he was right next to us. Get in your dinghy and at least attempt to help hand me the rope. I had a few choice words in my head for this guy but for now we were set and this is where we shall be for several days before heading on.

not much room to maneuver

 

 

Man-O-War And Onto Hope Town for Christmas

We left Marsh Harbor, and set sail for Man-O-War. Its a quaint little island where they do lots of boat building and handbag making from sail material. We usually do not go in the harbor as it is very shallow and narrow trying to get in there so we opted to anchor on the outside by Dickies Cay. This would give us a good location to sit for a couple days that would be in good proximity to the reefs on the outside. Good location to hunting grounds is important right now. After setting the hook Dirk decided to take a ride out to the reefs to see if he could  find any food to spear. He did manage to return with a decent size Hog Fish and his first two conchs of the season. I cooked dinner and then we sat topside watching a beautiful sunset slide into the Sea of Abaco. 

The next day was spent relaxing and hunting. I actually had my bathing suit on and was tempted to get in the water. Usually when we get here in the Abacos the weather is usually a bit cooler and the water is too cold to swim. Guess since we are here early this year the weather hasn't done that winter change yet. Dirk did mange to score 3 nice lobsters today and later we had John and Madeleine from Chanceux onboard for sundowners and snacks. I had made smoked fish dip out of that hog fish and boy was it tasty.

The next day we put up the spinnaker and sailed to Hope Town. We werent in a hurry as we had to wait till high tide to get into the harbor anyway. We got there a bit early and dropped the hook to wait. Dirk in the meantime hopped in the dinghy and hit the cut to find a conch for a salad, which he did before returning. We picked up anchor and headed into the harbor. We thought they might be getting full inside as this was the week leading up to Christmas and we wanted to be here for that. There were plenty of moorings still available and we picked one up next to Chanceux. The owner of the mooring came out and we paid him right there. Dirk had worked a deal for $100.00 for the week rather than 
$20.00 per day. We would decide later if we would leave Christmas day or not. The days
passed as we passed the time walking the beach, doing laundry, $20.00 for two loads. 
Ouch....searching the cut for sea biscuits, sea urchins, and of course conch. Lots of hunting was done as well. In the nine days we were in Hope Town Dirk got 11 lobsters, 6 conch, and one huge 10 pound hog fish that gave him a run for his money.

Nice 10 pound hogfish

 

Check out the mouth on that fish

 

Dirk showing off his catch

Here is the big boy he got

The big lobster he got had a 10 inch tail and weighed about 2 pounds. He even saw a few

reef and black tip sharks along the reefs. Some scared him, others he scared. He did however meet up with a shark he believes to be a bull. He said it was about 6 to 8 feet and big and bulky. I was in the dinghy and saw him swimming quickly, spear pointed behind him as he flew out of the water like a penguin fly's out to a glacier. I asked if something was chasing him. He said he was done.....

Dirk even found the winds were good enough to try flying the new drone he got. He got wonderful footage of the entire harbor but its too much data to try and upload it to the blog at this point. Perhaps another time. 
One evening we went over to s/v Chanceux for some Mexican Train and sundowners. Dirk decided to whip up some conch fritters and we decided since the lobster were plentiful that we would try some lobster fritters. I don't eat conch but I dove into the lobster fritters dipped in a spicy sauce we make to go with them. Yummy...Peter on s/v Grace pulled into Hope Town on the 23rd and brought us a beautiful sand dollar ornament that he made. I didn't have a tree up this year as it just didn't seem like Christmas but I had to hang this up. Even now it hangs in the salon. What a special treat.

 

On Christmas Eve Dirk had taken the dinghy out to do some hunting on the close reefs and I stayed behind to get some cleaning and relaxing done. I walked topside to read and found a yellow bag from Santa Conch on the deck. Hummmmmm inside was a pair of sunglasses and a cord to keep the sunglasses attached if they slip off. Lord knows I need these as I have lost two pair of my eyeglasses overboard because I wasn't wearing them. What a nice gesture, and I wonder who it was. 

The gift Santa Conch left

Later that day Madeleine from Chanceux came by and dropped off a little gift for me which I thought was extra thoughtful and she asked if I had dropped off a yellow bag to them. I told her no but I got one too. Next morning on the radio we heard someone say on the cruisers net that they wanted to thank the person who dropped off the gift. Apparently they had given a gift bag out to everyone in the harbor. Wow, who does that? I did find out later who did it as I was approached and asked if we received our bag as one of the elves was worried that the bag blew off the deck as they didn't quiet make a long enough toss to get it in the cockpit and it was pretty windy. I assured Santa Conch it was received and that he could put the elves mind at ease. He asked me not to reveal his identity so I must honor his wish. I did get a chance to thank him personally though.

Our mooring spot, Chanceux to our right

Christmas lights on the light house

And finally, Christmas lights on and light house lit

 

Another view of the light house

 

Sign on Vernon's Grocery store 

 

Dirk flying his drone on the beach

 

View of the reefs off the beach

Christmas morning we woke up and exchanged our traditional cards with each other. We stopped exchanging gifts several years ago when we realized that our boat needed the gifts more than we did. So basically this year we got a new wind generator and a new Rocna anchor. We love them both. 

You can see the new anchor on the tip of the bow sprit. this was taken when we hauled for our latest insurance survey

I got up, made coffee and homemade white chocolate and cherry scones. At 10am we headed to Chanceux along with a couple other boats and enjoyed egg nog and brunch, of course I brought the scones. A couple hours later we headed back to Renegade and took a nap, could have been too much food, or too much nog. Could have been both. Anyway the rest of the day was quiet and we were to bed early as we were moving on to Tahiti Beach the following day on high tide. It was a short hop down and we found a nice sandy spot to anchor in. We went to the beach once high tide exposed the flats so I could do a little shell hunting. Dirk ran back to the boat to retrieve his drone and captured some awesome video from above. The next morning the winds were so calm that he decided to fly it again, this time from the deck of our boat. That's scary, all the lines that it could possibly hit. I held it till it flew and reached to grab it on the return. In between I don't think I breathed at all. Whew.....we did however get more cool footage and Dirk pulled a still shot out of it showing us at anchor. 

A beautiful calm morning looking north from Tahiti Beach

Photo Dirk took with the drone at Tahiti Beach. Our anchor is sitting in the sand patch to the front right of the boat.

That morning as soon as the tide would allow, our plan was to head over to Snake Cay and then make it to Lynyard Cay to stage for our crossing to Eleuthera. Stay tuned.....

Green Turtle to Manjack

This will be my second attempt to write this post. I have been trying to find a better way to write and store my blogs till I have internet to do so. I thought I found an offline blog site that allows me to add the photos and have it all prepped so All I would need to do is hit upload when the time arrived. I thought I found an app that worked with my blog site until I sat and wrote one day only to realize yesterday when I sat to finish it up my entire post was gone. Aaaaaarrrggghh, now I find I need internet connection to save it. Whats the point. So now I am having to rewrite this post but in the absence of my patience I am not going into as much detail as I did first time around. So, shall I begin...

After we cleared into customs we picked up anchor and moved into White Sound as there was a front that was coming through the next couple days. With the direction of the winds we wouldn't be comfortable anchored where we were. We picked up a mooring from the local dive shop for $20.00 a day and settled in. Next morning Dirk wanted to check out the reefs an island or two up to see how rough it was to hunt. I went along and we made the trip in the dinghy and made the 10 to 15 minute trip. We made it to Manjack and made our way around Crab Cay to go through to the cut. It was obvious that the water was way too rough and there would be no hunting today. We decided to anchor the boat on the backside of the island and do some beach walking. After all we had made the trip up here. Well to make a long story short, as I was beaching the dinghy a wave came in and knocked me down onto the iron shore. I ended up being banged up pretty good with a hand that I could not get to stop bleeding without applying pressure. I probably could have used a couple stitches but I ended up just being very careful, keeping it immobile and dry and clean. I got majorly spoiled for about two weeks from Dirk who wouldn't allow me to do any housework. He made the bed every morning, washed all the dishes, cleaned the cat box even. A girl could get use to this, but I wont. 

Here is the hand, first and second day. Third pic is hand now, still healing but doing great.

This is the hip the day of and two days later. Its doing fine now

Beach at Green Turtle

Little crab trying to hide from us

A useful way to use all the floats that fall off the ships.

On the 11th we let the mooring ball go and headed north up to Manjack to anchor for a couple days. We pulled into the anchorage and dropped the hook in a nice sandy spot. Manjack has given us fits in the past with trying to find a nice anchor spot that we trusted to sleep in. After the anchor was down dirk decided to go hunting as the winds had calmed enough for the reefs to be safe. He returned with 2 nice lobsters. Dirk met 2 brothers travelling on s/v Grace while in Green Turtle and they invited us over for sun downers that evening where we met 2 other couples. Next day Peter from Grace and Dirk hit the reefs and Dirk returned with 4 more nice sized lobsters. We knew where dinner was coming from.
On Saturday the 13th we decided to brave the Whale passage and head to Marsh Harbor as we needed to do some grocery shopping. Remember we left the states without doing final provisioning. We weren't sure if they would be open on Sunday so we anchored the boat noticing how few boats were in the harbor. We had never seen it so empty, but then again, we have never been here so early. We made the short trek to Maxwell's. Its the nicest store in the Abaco's and just about anything can be found, at a price of course. we bought what we could carry in two backpacks and of course an ice cream for the walk back. One more stop at the liquor store for some rum and back to the boat where we put up groceries and had showers before heading into Snappa's restaurant for happy hour and $13.00 hamburgers. They went up since we were here last, but boy it was a good burger. We returned back to Renegade and called it an early evening. the next day was spent relaxing on the boat and that evening we were invited to s /v Chanceux for sundowners. Come to find out John and Dirk were both in the Army stationed in the same location on a couple occasions, knew some of the same people, just didn't know each other. Small world. Our plan was to leave the next day and head up to Man O War for a couple days before heading into Hope Town where we would spend Christmas.

Vero Beach to Green Turtle

We sat in Vero Beach for 4 days while watching it rain on and off for most of it, and listening to Chris Parker. Between all of our Passage Weather, Wind Finder and NOAA we listen to Chris. He always is cautious with the weather and seems to be able to let you know when its safe to make a passage. Saturday as we sat drinking coffee listening to Chris he mentioned a weather window he had not mentioned before. There was suppose to be a very short one on Sunday but we felt it was to small of one for a sailboat. Perhaps a powerboat but not us. This window was suppose to be good all day Saturday. We hardly make quick decisions but we did today. We got dressed and headed into the marina to pay and try to catch the first bus to Publix for last minute stuff. Once we get to the marina we realize its Saturday and the earliest bus would not be till 9:10. So we paid for our stay and figured we would just buy what we needed here. We would pay more but thats okay. We hurried back to the boat, lifted the dinghy and dropped the mooring making our way south to the Ft. Pierce. It would be about a two hour trip down the ICW which gave Dirk enough time to run jack lines and tidy the deck up and me enough time to go below and whip up some pasta salad and chicken salad for the crossing. With that done we turned east and headed out the inlet. It was pretty rough as the tide was still outgoing with east winds blowing which made for a very uncomfortable first few minutes. Butters let us know his displeasure by his three p's pee, poop, and puke, one right after the other. I knew it would happen yet didnt pick up the mat I keep in the cockpit. Oh well, shame on me. Glad we have a cockpit shower and was able to hose it all down.



Butters, hanging in the cockpit.
 

 Once he finally was drained and was down for the count we insured he was safely tucked away in his corner and set out to cross the Stream. Seas were not bad, 3 to 5 feet but a good time between them. It was very do able. About 2pm we started to feel the pull of the Gulf Stream and Dirk threw out some lines. Soon he had a Mahi on the line. You can always tell because they make that leap out of the water. Unfortunately for us the swivel on the tackle broke and Mr. Mahi along with our lure were never to be seen from again. As the sun set behind us the moon rose in front of us. What great luck for us. Soon we were cruising along with the almost full moon above us lighting our way. We finally emerged onto the Bahama Banks around 10pm which was great but we still had many more hours ahead of us. We took our turns napping and keeping watch. Butters finally decided he had his sea legs and once again accepted a tiny bit of food and water. By 5:30 am the horizon began to show signs of sunrise and we could see the land begin to take shape.

Dirk hoisting the Q flag

 The banks were now almost glass with just a few ripples. Great Sale is an unihabitated island with a great anchorage to tuck into. Especially for winds north and east. We slipped into the anchorage and there were only two other sailboats and three powerboats. Not too many people took advantage of the window although we were in radio contact with a few that were going all the way to Green Turtle.



As we were anchoring, the sun was rising and the moon was still in the sky

 

First Bahama sunrise of the season

Just as we were anchoring, everyone else that had gotten there the night before was picking up anchor and heading out. We had the whole place to ourselves. Never seen it like that. We both had showers and made our way to bed only to find we were restless. Who can sleep when the sun is shining and you have just arrived into a new country. We both managed cat naps and before I knew it Dirk was up saying he was ready to go. Wait, we only got here three hours ago. He said I could stay in bed as he started to pick up anchor. Well Im not gonna sleep so I might as well get up and make some coffee. I made coffee and we set our sights on Crab Cay where we would anchor for the night. As Dirk navigated I stashed some champagne into the fridge to chill for this evening. We always celebrate our crossings with champagne. We made it to the anchorage shortly before sunset which these days is still early. Dirk got the dinghy into the water and made tracks to go retrieve some coconuts like we always score each time we stop here.

Coconut found

 

Coconut husked

Back to the boat where I made us a home made pizza and we popped the champagne toasting a great

crossing. The following morning we picked up anchor and headed to Green Turtle to check into customs and get a mooring ball inside White Sound as the holding isnt that great and the winds were suppose to howl. As we traveled we saw the squalls from behind trying to catch up with us but they never did.

Squalls trying to catch us

The winds provided some nice sailing for us though. Finally pulling into the Green Turtle anchorage outside of the government dock, we set the anchor and Dirk gathered the appropriate paperwork and passports then headed off. I spent the time tidying up. Soon he was back and we lowered the quarantine flag and hoisted the Bahamian courtesy flag.

Courtesy flag hoisted

 We were now legal and ready to roam.

And So The Journey Begins

We woke to a beautiful morning on our own. No alarms,for we wanted to ease into to day with no time schedules. Our first day was to be a short one as we had planned on only travelling about 20 miles today. No need to rush into things. Coffee was brewed and we walked the docks telling the friends we had not seen the night before good bye. At 9:30 we fired up the engine and slowly untied the lines that bound us to our docks for far too long. Dick came down to untie our final lines and give us our final push off. So long Harbortown Marina. We enjoy it here but its time to go. We have made so many wonderful friends here, some of which we consider family. Its always hard to say good bye but such is life when you cruise. You know though that somehow, someway you will run into each other again. Into the barge canal, through the bridge and turning south onto the ICW, Dirk hoisted the sails. Soon we shut the engine down and sailed along at a decent clip. What a decent way to start a new journey. We anchored just north of Melbourne Beach and celebrated the beginning of our journey with a shot of Sambuca. I made us a quick gumbo for dinner and by 6:30 we were climbing into bed to watch some TV before quickly falling off to sleep. Both of us woke up at 1:45 am and thought it was morning. Back to sleep and up for coffee before we joined 7 other sailboats heading south.

Winds were out of the east and we sailed along for just a short time before the winds shifted to the south east and basically came off the nose. Soon the rains and the squalls came making for a gray, non eventful day. We arrived in Vero Beach and managed to score one of the last moorings that was un occupied. This time of year they raft them 3 deep to a mooring but we lucked out. Not sure for how long but thats okay, just as long as we dont get a yappy dog nextdoor. We poked around the mooring field and found the boat Motu, we knew from the last time we were in the Bahamas. we stopped and chatted with them a bit before heading back to make dinner and relax. We will hang out here for a few days to let the weather patterns change a bit before heading down to West Palm Beach where we will stage for our crossing to the Abacos.