April 19-28, 2018 Treasure, Green Turtle, Great Sale Cays & the Gulf Stream

We decided to start heading home, slowly.  We wanted to stop at Treasure Cay once more, to check on Lauryl Anne and also to see more Krogens.  Gratitude, Invictus, Lili and Gandalf were docked in the Marina. Our day cruising was just lovely: a beautiful clear blue sky day to match the beautiful clear calm turquoise water. There was a mooring ball available for us, actually the same one we had been on previously. Lauryl Anne looked great, we removed more food out of the fridge & passed it on to the other Krogenites because David & Tricia were not getting back to the boat anytime soon. We chatted a bit with Sue & Don on Invictus & Jill on Lili.  After dinner, we visited awhile with Maria & Roberto on Gratitude.

The weather/winds/wave forecast was good to cross through the dreaded "whale" so we said our good-byes and enjoyed calm seas all the way to Green Turtle Cay.  Because we were trying not to anchor anymore & needed to take apart our kayak, we decided to return to Leeward Yacht Club in Black Sound.  We scored a slip along the main dock run, so it was wide & stable to lower the kayak off the bridge & break it down. We also were glad we were docked because it rained & stormed often while we were there.

2003, in Baltimore

Small world story:  While at LYC, I was on the back deck when an elderly gentleman stopped by & asked "is this a Krogen 39? and of course, I said yes, it is.  Then he looked at our transom which has our boat name & our former home port of Maumee Ohio.  He then proceeds to say "I helped unload, Captain & commission a brand new 39 Krogen that was going to Ohio back in 2003, the only Krogen I ever worked on".  I then said well we were the only Krogen 39 in Ohio and we took delivery on her in 2003 from New Jersey.  I was excited, I called Doug from inside the boat and we proceeded to meet Kenneth Winters from Winters Yacht Harbor in Mantoloking, NJ.  We previously had met Kenneth back in 2003, when we were at his Boat Yard discussing our commissioning of Day Dreams.  Tom Button & Larry Polster, now part owners of Kadey Krogen Yachts and Kenneth Winters rode on Day Dreams while it was being unloaded off the freighter in Baltimore.  Kenneth then piloted Day Dreams to his place in NJ.

Day Dreams unloading off Freighter

Our last night at LYC, we decided to experience their Happy Hour.  We sat down at the small bar between 2 couples.  We began chatting with Eric & Ruth, who we quickly found out are from Nova Scotia.  It just so happens, we will be visiting there this summer in our RV.  Well, Eric was a great source of information.  By the time, we finished our drinks, I had 4 pages of notes and an invitation to stop & stay in their guest house in Mahone Bay.  By the way, the other couple were from Labrador, CA. Canadians are the most giving, friendly people we have ever meant. Sorry that Trump has offended them.

We had talked briefly to KK Meridian & found out that they were planning on staging the same day & same place: Great Sale Cay.  April 25, we followed Meridian to an anchorage on the East side.  Neither of our anchors set well due to the rock hard bottom.  We all felt we would be ok because it wasn't windy & we were leaving at midnight.

At midnight, the conditions were great: moonlight & pretty calm.  Then it got rolly, then on the bank it became darn right rough. We had attempted a few times to file a float plan with CBP on my Mac & iPad but it didn't save each time.  After becoming frustrated, I contacted CBP by email and they informed us we needed Windows to file.  No where does it tell you that-ugh! But even better, we downloaded the new pilot ROAM App & completed the entire check-in including taking pics of our passports, on my phone and we were cleared within the hour to enter the U.S.

We did not speed up much in the Gulf Stream because of the direction we were traveling, which was mostly west.  It did calm down enough to be comfortable. It took us 18 hours from Great Sale Cay to Fort Pierce.  We docked at the new Causeway Cove Marina across the ICW from the City Marina.  The docks & facilities are nice but the entrance is shallow.  They do have mooring balls, which I think have a slightly deeper depth. We walked to Chuck's on the Water for dinner where we sat on their deck overlooking the Inlet.

The next morning, we pulled away from the T-end & our Bow Thruster stuck in gear-OH NO!! We were moving full throttle to the left.  Doug could not get it to shut off.  Luckily Doug kept a level head & the docks around us were all empty; he put us into a large slip where our portside could rest against the piling to stop us from going around in a circle.  Just as we pressed nicely up against the piling the bow thruster stopped.  Doug was on his way down to the stateroom to go under the bed to turn the battery switch off when it burned itself out.  And yes, it didn't flame, thank goodness, but it got real, real hot! We could smell the burning! Yikes! Doug checked everything & when we knew we were safe, we began again.

We went back out the Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean.  As we left, KK Lili called us on the VHF.  Betty & Jill were behind us & heading in the same direction. They travel a bit faster than we do so they eventually passed us but all day, we were in sight of them. All night we were in radio contact with them.  It's helpful to have someone to talk to during the wee hours of the night. We enjoyed a moonlit night; almost a full moon. We left Lili at Jacksonville, she kept heading north. It took us 30 hours from Ft Pierce to The Marina @ Ortega Landings. The Ortega River is a bit shallow at it's mouth so we had to make it before low tide.  We weren't sure if we could do it but Yahoo-we did!

April 3-19, 2018 Treasure Cay, Hopetown, Black Sound Cat, Abacos

From Great Guana, we cruised a short distance, taking only 1.5 hours to Treasure Cay. Treasure Cay is another new stop for us.  There is a marina and a mooring field and we were lucky to find 2 empty mooring balls. Once we were tied up & settled; Tricia, Dave, Doug & I took the dinghy in to the Marina.  It's not a long ride & the wifi even reached out to us.  It's a well protected harbor & there is a pool, bar & restaurant.  Across the street is a beautiful white sand beach with another bar/restaurant. The four of us celebrated Happy Hour at the pool bar and ordered pizza to go.

Later in the evening, after we all were back in our own boats, David began to experience chest & back pain again.  We knew he needed more medical attention at this point so we went by dinghy to the marina bar & got him & Tricia a cab back to Marsh Harbor.  Marsh Harbor has a 24 hour Government Clinic.  FYI: I do not recommend this place & hope you never need it. DAN Boater let us down also, we & Lauryl Anne have their insurance but their ER phone # & their 24 hour hotline did not work in the Bahamas.  The only number that worked was their daytime # with a link. Long story short, David made it to West Palm Beach Garden Hospital the next day, thanks to Rocky our cab driver & had a arterial stent placed and has no permanent heart damage.

Meanwhile, Doug & I moved Lauryl Anne into a dock at the Treasure Cay Marina & prepped it for all weather conditions. The next day, we cruised to Hopetown where Confetti, Renaissance Woman, Red Tail &  Erben Renewal were moored. Confetti had snagged a mooring ball for us because the harbor was very busy. The mooring ball was owned by Lucky Strike Co/Vernon and we were on a 40 ft max mooring.  The adjacent boat was pretty close.  Julia & Steve invited us over for her delicious lemon tart, it certainly was great to spend more time with them.

While at Hopetown, We met our KK friends at Sip Sip one night, then @ Hopetown Inn another night where they were hosting a charity band event for an employee fighting cancer. We biked, walked the beaches & enjoyed my favorite drink at FireFly.

Sundays are very quiet in the Bahamas.  They still believe in keeping Sunday a day of rest so most establishments are closed.  I love the coffee house here & they have good wifi but on Sundays: no coffee house, no groceries & only 1 or 2 restaurants serve food. Doug tried snorkeling over at the beach by Hopetown Harbor Inn but it wasn't very good unless you go really far out. We broke down & hired the only guys in the area to clean our bottom.  David had worked on cleaning our prop but the whole bottom needed cleaning badly so 2 guys worked hard on it for over an hour & we paid dearly but it was worth it.

We left Hopetown for a few days to attempt to snorkel at Sandy Cay. We were hoping the weather & winds would be good enough for us to anchor right at Sandy Cay but it wasn't. We ended up anchoring at Black Sound Cat Cay, a dinghy ride distance away which afforded us better protection from the winds.  We were able to dinghy over & snorkel Sandy Cay.  There is a strong current there, so we took turns snorkeling while the other person drifted nearby in the dinghy.  There is a large coral reef but sadly some of it is dead from ignorant boaters who throw their anchors instead of using the mooring balls. There is a large variety of fish, barracuda & rays. We ended up riding a storm out at Black Sound Cat, another night of keeping watch.  We held firm along with the other 5 boats around us.

We kayaked the shore around Black Sound Cat and we came upon a police boat with lights flashing & policemen searching the shoreline.  We never did find out what or who they were searching for.

Now, not only was our windless not working, our anchor wash down decided to quit completely so as Doug builds his muscles pulling up the anchor, the sand comes with it. Our next night, the winds were moving northward and we tried a few different anchorages around Tiloo but there was not enough protection so we ended up on the south side of Sugarloaf Cay where there was not an AC recommendation but 3 other boats anchored by us & we were well protected from the winds but not from the wakes of the Ferries.

With this new development, we decided to give up anchoring for the present & head back to Hopetown and grab a mooring.  We were lucky, there was a Lucky Strike mooring open & it wasn't a max 40 ft one. This time, we had the ferry that takes people to & from Hopetown Inn & Resort to contend with. The Captains of the ferry loved to come very close & wake us, I think for sport. The mooring field is full with even more Krogens: Red Tail, Kadence, Way To Go, Songlines (a new 44), Ariel, Debadoo & Lali were all in the harbor. Marianne & Ric hosted a KK get together on Renaissance Woman.  It definitely was a fun KK rendezvous with 8 Krogens in attendance.

On my birthday, Doug & I rode our bikes to FireFLy for lunch.  It was delicious and this time I splurged & ordered a Banana Split drink which was yummy. On our way back, we stopped at the bar "On Da Beach" and ran into Mike & Linda on Fair Winds, who we met last year in the Bahamas and we also saw them in Punta Gorda because they live down the canal from Esther.  Kevin & Caroline invited us along with Kadence for cocktails on Red Tail.  We retrieved our new Windless motor from Laurie & Bill on Lali who we appreciate so much for bringing it along with them.  Too bad we can't use it! We love our Krogen family.

On our way out of Hopetown, we stopped at Lighthouse Marina to fill up with water.  Water had tested around 200 ppm in their bathroom and we knew many boats purchased their water.  What we didn't know, was they have a crappy hose to fill your tank.  I was concerned but we never got sick. We should have taken off their hose & used ours to allay my worries.

March 25-April 3, 2018 Manjack, Marsh Harbor

With our windlass broken, Doug has now taken on the chore of bringing in the anchor.  He manually pulls it up with me driving the boat forward to put slack in the chain.  Doug has figured out that the Motor on the Windlass is what died so we have been frantically making calls & arrangements for a new motor to be picked up by our Uber friend, Linda from Florida Hydraulics in Riviera Beach and dropped off at Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart so Bill & Laurie on Lali can bring our new motor over to the Bahamas with them. It was definitely a team effort: our phone signal was too weak for us to call, so we texted Garry & he made the call & purchase of the motor for us. Jeff Hall was the one to set up Lali for us.

Our trip from Powell to Manjack is a short hour but well worth it. We tucked into a bay between Crab Cay & Manjack Island.  There are many more boats here but it is a big anchorage. We are still experiencing stiff winds so its a bit wavy. There are nooks, crannys, rivers & an inlet out to the ocean here.  We used our dinghies, kayaks & Lauryl Anne even had their Stand Up Boards in. David even took his "Wine Sling" and attempted to find Lobster but no luck with that. We did see huge Rays, lots of turtles and a Nurse Shark.

One of our mornings, the winds had diminished to nothing so the water was like glass, even like a magnifying glass, we could see the bottom so clearly, it was amazing! Then it was such a dramatic change within hours, the sky darkened and the wind picked up to howling level! We had a very rough night-we took turns sitting in the Pilot House keeping watch.  Two sailboats did drag but our 3 Krogens held steady.

The next day calmed enough to celebrate our 41st anniversary.  We took our dinghies into the main beach, which has picnic tables, a hammock, tiki hut & chickens.  There are a few houses on this island & the owner has graciously opened his beach & toys for all to enjoy. Lauryl Anne brought the music & Confetti popped the bubbly.  We danced, sang & played Bocce Ball.  A great anniversary celebration to remember.

Meanwhile, our windless story gets more complicated.  Doug removed the motor and looked at the whole windless closer and yes, the motor was broken but it broke due to a problem in the gear box.  Over the summer, we had sent the gear box to Florida Hydraulics to replace the seals because there was a minor drip of oil.  Low & behold, long story short-the guy @ Florida Hydraulics inadvertently left the snap ring out causing all the problems.  After all the finagling of getting the motor over to us, we can't use it.

The winds were up for a few days but we did get some more kayaking in, saw the pig that lives on Crab Cay and had a blast at game night on Lauryl Anne.  One of the hikes is a marked Art Walk where everyone is invited to add their own artwork along the way.  We didn't have anything to add but their was quite a variety of interesting things to see.

Our last evening at Manjack, Doug & I rode in Lauryl Anne's dinghy with them to Green Turtle Cay, White Sound.  We dined outside on the deck at Bluff House.  A great dinner & a moon lit calm ride home.

The next morning, sadly we said Good-bye to Confetti who left us to go to Hopetown to meet friends & attend Easter Church Service. We tied up to Lauryl Anne for them to share some water with us.  They are so generous to us & such great friends! While tied up with LA, we found out that David had a bad night experiencing unexplained pain so we went straight to Marsh Harbor.  We docked at Abaco Resort & Boat Harbor. The staff arranged for David to see a Doctor.  After tests were run, Dave got an all clear from the Dr.  We walked to a very nice grocery store. Rocky, our cab driver to the Drs, came back & picked us up that evening & drove us to The Jib Room, which is another Marina in Marsh Harbor.  They were having a steak roast.  We watched some locals play the Rake & Scrape, dance & limbo.  David had a good night's sleep so in the morning, we took off & cruised 12 miles to Great Ghana.

Great Ghana is famous for Nippers.  Last year, after we returned from the Bahamas, when we would mention Bahamas to any boaters they would always ask "did you go to Nippers?" So we knew, we needed to visit this important place & even better on a Sunday for their Pig Roast.  We made it there on Easter Sunday.  The place was packed! They had just finished hosting an Easter Egg Hunt on the beach so there were many local families present.  It is a very fun & colorful place with a beautiful beach.

Nippers is on the ocean side and we were anchored in Fishers Bay on the Bank. In order to get to Nippers, we beached our dinghy on the Bank side at another restaurant/bar called Grabbers.  This place has a pool and live music. Both Nippers & Grabbers are fun spots to stop & have a drink. While on the island, we also checked out one of the Marinas: Orchid Resort & Yacht Club in Settlement Harbor. It is a very nice place, with pool, restaurant and patio. We also found out later, that their water tests great!

The Toy Hauler going into Bakers Bay

We took LA's dinghy & stealthily cruised into Bakers Bay on the northern end of the island.  Bakers Bay is an exclusive very upscale community for the rich & famous.  They had cameras set up on the docks but we made it back without incident-whew! There were large mansions & Mega yachts.  A toy hauler passed us in the entrance.  This toy hauler was at least 100 feet long & is used by one of the members to haul all of their water toys separate from their yacht, I can't imagine! Reportedly, Bill Gates, Tom Brady, Phil Knight & Phil Mickelson all own homes there.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

MY LOVE