Now in the Bahamas

We have arrived in the Bahamas on 11/24/2022, Thanksgiving Day.

We rode out Tropical Storm Nicole in Beaufort SC and fortunately it followed a path that was inland from our location.  We had several days of wind and rain but no winds over 35 knots.  Other locations were not as fortunate.  Our main concern was the warnings of possible tornados as the rain bands moved through.  Where does one go when on a boat?

On Sunday 11/12/2022 we pulled anchor and moved down river again to stage for an early start for our overnight trip to St. Augustine.  The next morning we pulled anchor just after sunrise, 7:00 am, and followed the route down the river and out into the ocean.  We had favorable winds and set sail for St Augustine but staying about ten miles offshore.  We sailed overnight and the next morning when about three hours out the winds died and we motored the rest of the way arriving at noon.  We anchored just off the Bridge of Lions and relaxed.  There is a strong current in the river and when the tide changed we had a catamaran anchored near us moving too close for comfort along with being too close to some docks so we pulled anchor and moved to another location.  In the morning we moved to a mooring for the next two days.  This gave us access to the marinas services such as the dinghy dock, showers, and laundry.  We were on a mooring next to Jim and Laurie in Kismet and after lunch with them we did a bit of shopping for boat stuff.  The next day my ankle was really bothering me and hard to walk on so we made a trip to an Urgent Care clinic.  There I got a shot and a prescription.  I had also arranged for a prescription to be sent to a pharmacy here and Cori got to do the four mile round trip to pick them up while I stayed on the boat and charged the batteries.  That evening we went to dinner with our friend Jim who has a boat in NC but lives nearby in Florida.  Allie and Ryan on Wabi Sabi drove down from where they were working on their boat to pick up some parts we brought for them  Later Jim and Laurie off Kismet and Fred and Ruth from Shooting Star joined us.

After checking the weather we decided to just motor down the ICW to prepare for the crossing rather then going offshore to Fort Pierce.  The first day we motored and arrived at New Smyrna Beach just a couple of minutes late for the scheduled bridge opening.  We maneuvered around for half an hour until the bridge opened and we could pass through.  It was 5:30 and near sunset so we anchored just down from the bridge for the night.  The next morning at 7:00 am we pulled anchor and continued on stopping for the night at Melbourne.  The next day we continued on arriving at Vero Beach at noon.  After checking in and topping off the fuel and water we moved out to share a mooring with Mike and Jean on Desderata II.  Several of our cruising friends were already here or on their way.  With rain forecast for the next day we caught the bus to the grocery store for last minute supplies.  Sunday it was raining and we spent the day on the boat.  The rain let up the next morning and we made another run for groceries and lunch on shore.  The next day was raining again but Desterada II left and Wabi Sabi came in to raft up with us.  

The next day we planned to leave early but it was too foggy to go anywhere.  About an hour later the fog cleared enough that we could see the channel markers and we headed off.  By mid-day we arrived at Fort Pierce and headed out the inlet bound for the Bahamas.

We first motored south along the coast until St Luci Inlet then turned east for the Bahamas.  We went south first to compensate for how far north the Gulf Stream would push us as we crossed it.  The next morning we were across and into the shallow water of the Bahamas.  We decided to continue on to Green Turtle Cay arriving about 4:00 pm on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day.  We anchored off the town and the next morning at high tide we moved into Black Sound and tied up at Donny's Marina.  After a short trip to check in we were officially in the Bahamas and celebrated with a couple of Kalik's, a Bahamian beer.  That evening we had a late Thanksgiving dinner with Donny and Mary Earl.

We are hanging out at the marina helping Donny with projects and plan to take some day trips to neighboring islands.  Green Turtle Cay is a fun place to be over Christmas and New Years so our plan is to stay here and move down the island chain after the new year.

North Carolina to South Carolina

We have started our next cruise.

We left our friends dock to move down the river to Clubfoot Creek.  This is where we lived at Matthews Point Marina.  The marina has new owners and is now Bishop's Marina.  We anchored off from the docks to spend more time preparing.  We had left Cori's kayak with our friends Bill and Helen and we brought that back to the boat.  We have other friends here that helped us out, Wayne repaired the wiring on a water pump for the water-maker, Louise took Cori to town for more provisioning and Vic loaned us his car to run errands.  Finally after a hectic two days we felt we were ready and with a promising weather forecast we pulled anchor and started the new adventure.

On Tuesday, November 1st, we pulled anchor and motored down the ICW from the Neuse River to Beaufort Inlet and at 3:00 pm we headed out the inlet and started off, hopefully to Florida.  Initially the winds were on the nose but the forecast was for them to clock around from the northwest.  We motored along and about 9:00 pm the winds had shifted enough that we could shut down the engine and begin sailing.  Later during the night the winds dropped and we had to start motoring again.  By sunrise the next morning we had made our way past Frying Pan Shoals.  The winds had started to come up and by changing our course a little we were once again sailing.  We sailed all day running from 4-6 knots with the winds from behind.  We continued on this course into the night.  Eventually the winds shifted more to the northeast and we adjusted our sails and altered our course putting us once more on a direct line to Florida.  The winds had been building and we were seeing 15-20 knots of apparent winds.  When you add our boat speed, which at that time was 7-9 knots, we were in 20-25 knot winds with gust up to 30.  We were seeing boat speeds we had only had while being pushed in the gulf stream.  Along with the winds increasing, the seas were building and we were getting pushed around by the following seas.  This unexpected speed was causing a problem.

Traveling at our usual 5-6 knots we were expecting to arrive at St Augustine sometime Friday morning.  By increasing our speed we would by arriving in the middle of the night.  St Augustine Inlet is not somewhere I want to arrive at night.  Due to the shifting shoals the buoys that mark the channel are periodically relocated and are not accurate on our charts and chartplotter.  It can be done at night but daylight and binoculars make it safer.  With the combination of poor arrival time, the increasing wind and rougher sea conditions we made the decision to alter course and make for Beaufort SC.  We continued on to Port Royal Sound going up the Beaufort River and anchoring in Cowen Creek around 2:00 pm on Thursday, November 3rd, a trip of 320 miles.  We spent the night in this quiet anchorage catching up on our sleep.  After checking the weather forecast we decided that we would wait until conditions improved before continuing.  We pulled anchor and continued up the river and anchored across from Downtown Beaufort.  In the evening we went ashore to check out the town and their "First Friday" event.  This is when the shops are open late, music is broadcast in the streets and the merchants are offering complimentary drinks (my favorite) while we perusing their stores.  The next morning we went ashore to be tourists.  I love a good museum and found that the Beaufort History Museum was outstanding.  The volunteers provide an outstanding tour and history lesson.  From there we walked over to the St Helena church and cemetery checking out graves dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Sunday morning we pulled anchor to move to another more protected anchorage.  The forecasts were predicting that the low pressure system off of the Bahamas would form into a Tropical Storm and was heading to the east coast.  Monday we went ashore to check out the new area and hit the grocery store again.  

Now it is Tuesday and we are monitoring the weather forecasts since Tropical Storm Nicole is causing hurricane warning in Florida and is expected to track up the east coast after making landfall in Florida.  We are thankful we did not make it to St Augustine.  For now we are safely tucked away in Factory Creek with the anchor well set and what I think is the proper amount of chain played out.  We just have to wait and see what happens.