‘Slow Poke’ and the Cruiser’s Net to the Rescue, Again

Because the dinghy ride from the anchorage at Stocking Island is pretty far from George Town, and because we wanted to get fresh provisions in George Town, we moved Juno back to the “middle” at 7:00 am ahead of the Cruiser’s Net, so that we could pop to the grocery when  the cruiser’s net broadcast was over.  Today, Harry was in search of anyone with a swaging tool to fix a wire that had frayed.  Low and behold, we heard from “Slow Poke” indicating that they’d be happy to help out. We were very appreciative of the generosity among the many cruisers  in George Town treating total strangers like family.  With this behind us, we set off for our first re-provisioning since leaving Florida four weeks ago.  

Expecting to pay more at the market but being selective as the quality wasn’t what we’re used to, we found fresh lettuce, kale, oranges, lemons, limes, potatoes, milk, eggs and a few other things passing on $12.00 strawberries, tiny 2 inch apples that go for $1.50 a piece, and $7.00 for a bag of sandwich wraps, but splurging on a can of ‘peas in coconut milk’ - a local favorite.  While expensive, it was nice knowing we’d replenish our produce.  Acting on a tip from the Cruiser’s Net, we visited Trianna’s Beauty Salon in George Town, where we were happy to nab one of the last bags of fresh grouper for $20. 

Sticker shock at the Exuma Market in George Town

After lunch, we moved Juno south to Fowl Cay and then Elizabeth Cay where we found some decent snorkeling, away from the cruisers, and finally settled in off Sand Dollar Beach for a calm, still night.

Snorkeling off of Fowl Cay near George Town

‘Kokomo’ and the Cruiser’s Net to the Rescue

After a very rolly, sleepless night anchored in “the middle” with no protection from the breeze that blew on about 11 pm, we turned on the VHF for “the Cruiser’s Net” promptly at 8 am.  After announcing departures, events for the day - water aerobics, ladies bible study, and rock painting for the kids, the airwaves are open to those looking for boat parts, advice, etc.  Seizing  our opportunity, Harry chimed in with a request for anyone with the part we needed to please contact us and Jim Felds on “Kokomo” thought he might have just what we were looking for.  So we moved Juno and anchored just next to Kokomo, off Stocking Island, and as luck would have it, Kokomo did have the part we needed and wouldn’t accept anything for it. Suddenly, things were looking much better as now we had a reliable dinghy and seized the opportunity to check out “Chat and Chill” beach which served as HQ for the regatta and the social hub for the cruiser community.

Cruiser kids playing at the beach

Ronaldo making up conch salad

After exploring social scene at Volley Ball Beach and the Chat and Chill, we headed off to the east side of Stocking Island for a more typical Bahamas environment.

A short walk across Stocking Island to the east

Eastern beach on Stocking Island

On to George Town, Great Exuma in search of dinghy gas line fitting

With the dinghy gas line not working properly, our best hope of a replacement fitting is the largest town in the Exumas - George Town so we headed out sailing all the way there from Children’s Cay arriving to find close to 200 other cruisers concluding their two week long “regatta”.  It was something to see so many boats moored off Stocking Island opposite George Town.  We decided to anchor in middle ground as it was away from the masses, close to town, and literally, in the middle of Elizabeth Harbor.  Once ashore, we headed to “Top II Bottom” - the shop that had just about everything a boater could need including a new boat hook to replace the one lost at Little Farmer’s Cay, but they didn’t have the right fitting for our dinghy gas line.  The best suggestion was to try the “Cruiser’s Net” - the daily 8 am communication via VHF radio that goes out to all 200 cruisers in the harbor in the hope that someone might have the part we need. Dinner was the last of the fish fried with jerk seasoning that was delicious.

Elizabeth Harbour, George Town - approx 200 boats

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Our first fish, dinghy woes continue, and a fire at sea

Light winds blew as we headed south on the Sound along with just about everyone else who'd been in Rudder Cut Cay the night before. We had a mission of getting close to George Town to get the dinghy gas line fixed asap. We were the only boat who chose to sail and were moving along at about 4 knots in 2-4 foot seas and Harry set out the fishing lure and line. After a few tacks and about two hour later, he got a bite! In no time, Harry was reeling in a 24 inch tuna - our first fish and a beauty! Next came the hard part - killing the fish and filleting him on the stern of the boat. We used a few ounces of gin over the gills so we hope he had a happy end to his life and with book illustrations close by, Harry managed to fillet the fish and had it in the fridge 15 minutes later tossing the  carcass back in the ocean for someone else to finish off. 

Catching, not just fishing

We were feeling pretty proud and happy now with some fresh fish in the fridge for dinner when we noticed a large black cloud of smoke off our stern about 2-3 miles away.  As all the other boats heading south had long passed us, we appeared to be the closest and so we did a 180 degree turn back north towards the smoke.  It didn't look pretty and with binoculars, I could even see flames - not what you want to see on a boat. Thankfully, a faster powerboat approached the scene from the north getting there long before us and rescued the sailor from his dinghy and so no lives were lost but it is probable that his boat was a complete loss as there is no "Tow Boat USA" or Coast Guard to aid ships in distress in these waters. After this incident, we knew we weren't going to make George Town so we pulled into Rat Cay Cut and found a nice anchorage off Children's Cay with views west to Barreterre and the chain of cays where water depths are only 1-4 feet.

Day 2 Rudder Cay, Dinghy problems

After moving out to deeper water the night before, we slept in a bit, and woke to yet another beautiful day.  We wanted to explore some more snorkeling spots that we saw charted but did not have a lot of success.  We flagged down another dinghy that looked to have been out snorkeling and it turned out to be our hosts from cocktails the night before.  They pointed us off to a small spot off Darby Cay with lots of fish and our first conch shell worth keeping. Then we headed to a beach where Sarah led us through some yoga. It was now about 3PM and the dinghy was giving us recurring problems with the gas line so we returned to Juno and made plans to head towards George Town in hopes of finding a fix to our dinghy woes. 

Reef off of Darby Cay near Rudder

Rudder Cay - a mermaid and low tide woes

We headed out through the cut to the sound at 8am sailing southeast. The wind was up to 18 knots, with 5'-7' seas and we were close hauled. We had our sails reefed so it was comfortable enough but no reason to work too hard, so we cut our sail short turning in to Rudder Cay instead of Lee Stocking Cay. Great decision as it was a beautiful spot.  We met a couple shortly after arriving who invited us to join them for sunset cocktails. It was still early so we headed out to explore some caves and snorkeled the "piano and mermaid" - a sculpture that David Copperfield had placed in 15' of water.

About 4:30 pm we noticed the outgoing tide was lower than we had expected and Juno was in shallower water than the 5' 7" draft that she requires to keep afloat. Juno bumped on the sandy bottom a few times but as it was almost dead low tide, we couldn't retrieve the anchor which was in even shallower water, so we left Juno and went to meet the other boaters and enjoy cocktails. As it turned out, our host's boat was also bumping on the soft sand and without any worries, we all enjoyed cocktails and the sunset. Later, about 1 am, we were awoken by waves rocking Juno. Since it was just after high tide, this provided us ample depth to re-anchor Juno to deeper waters so that we wouldn't be woken by the bumps at the next low tide around 5 am which is what we did and we both slept peacefully the rest of the night without any more bumps.

A cave at Rudder Cay

Sarah at the back of the cave

What's that guy taking a picture of?

So that's what's up there

David Copperfield's mermaid and piano

Change of Plans - Cave Cay

The window for an exit and re-entry onto the Exuma Sound timed with the tides given a strong SE wind 15-20 knots was going to be too tight for Lee Stocking Cay and someone tipped us off to staying on the banks until Guillot Cut reducing the amount of time on the Sound.  Cay's near Guillot Cut that caught our eye included Guillot Cay and Cave Cay so we headed out about 9:00 am under overcast skies with winds 15 out of the SE.  We had a nice sail getting to the NW end of Cave Cay,  dropping anchor right off a private runway in 11 feet and crystal clear waters around noon. Harry spliced the anchor line for the spare anchor while I read Panchinko. As the dinghy was on Juno, we snorkeled off the boat swimming to shore of the private cay finding many sand dollars scattered across the white sandy bottom. All was well until about 6 pm when the tide changed and the rolls began. Challenging to deploy the second anchor without launching the dingy and dark approaching, Harry finally bagged plans around 7:30 pm after fiddling with the second anchor for about an hour.

Catching some Rays at White Point, Great Guana Cay

The point was enough to block any swells and so we both slept well. Strong winds of 15-20 knots out of SE kept us on anchor and we had a lazy morning making pumpkin bread and enjoying the morning on-board.  By noon, we were ashore sitting under an umbrella, eating lunch and relaxing.  Other boats started arriving as this was a protected anchorage from the SE wind, and soon others were walking our private beach.   We snorkeled off the shallow beach nearly out to the boat, and sailed back to Black Point, hauled the dinghy onto Juno so as to be ready for the 5-7 foot waves in the sound when we venture out Friday morning for Lee Stocking Cay.

Swells, swells, and retraced ourselves

Oh the swells.  They roll up the bank from the south and get the boat rocking making it nearly impossible to sleep because the boat rocks side to side like a weeble. We were anxious to get moving to put an end to the rolling and were underway by 8:30 am and arrived at Little Farmer's Cay around 11:30.  In the process of picking up the mooring ball with the current opposite a strong wind (15-20 from the SE), we lost the boat hook and thus decided to abort plans for Little Farmer's Cay, and  retraced our morning sail back to White Point on Great Guana Cay. No worries.  The sun was shining and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon exploring Jack's Beach by dinghy, found the most plastic ever on an eastern beach,  and swam off the boat in 6.5 feet of water. Just one other boat in the anchorage tonight.

A small sample of the plastics on the beach

Most scenic laundromat you'll ever encounter

Black Point is renown for many things, among which is having a dockside laundromat that  is super convenient. We were first ashore, and had to knock on Stick's door across the street to buy tokens, then sat outside with free WiFi for the 1.5 hours it took to wash some sheets. View was worth the $7 it cost to do a full load.

We then had a short sail to Hetty's Land with a good 15 knots out of the SE - seemingly the prevailing wind direction and velocity.  Enjoyed an hour on the beach and then concluded watching "The Founder" about Ray Kroc and the McDonald's story after dinner with popcorn - just like at the movies.

Laundromat waiting area

The Extremes: President's day snowfall in Winchester and Freshly Caught Red Snapper

We videoconference first thing this morning with Sally and Katie who showed us the newly fallen snow back home, caught up with them and plans for visits to the Bahamas and NYC for Sally's upcoming PhD/graduation. At the dinghy dock in Black Point, we encountered GT who had just returned from fishing with a bucket full of fish and was willing to part with three red snappers for $10, gutted and cleaned. Quite the bargain considering a bottle of ketchup in the marked was going for $4.50. We were also treated to a show of sharks and rays at the dock, hanging out for the fish guts that would occasionally come their way.  Harry purchased a banana for $1 at the local market (nothing else looked tempting) and I mailed a letter to the states (65 cents - quite a bargain) and then we walked to the white horses at the northeast end of the island and decided to stay put the night and enjoy our freshly caught snapper for dinner. It felt sustainable supporting the local economy and returning the fish head and bones back to the ocean for other creatures to enjoy only a few hours after the poor fellas had been harvested for our sustenance.  Black Point people were extremely friendly and hospitable - very welcoming to the passing sailors and it was a very enjoyable stop.

Black Point Vista

Bahamian Fisherman G.T.

Three Red Snappers from G.T.

Iguanas, Red Snapper and Bahamian Lobster tail

Since we are still hoping to catch anything with fins that can be eaten and fishing is best on the deep Exuma Sound, we decided to sail the sound rather than the shallow bank to Bitter Guana Cay - an undeveloped iguana sanctuary.  After 45 minutes fishing with no bite (the lure fell off we later discovered) we pulled into the head of Bitter Guana with only one other boat in sight -a stark contrast to Staniel Cay where we were among 30 others in the anchorage.
 We discovered the iguanas don't like carrot peels but love celery tops, cilantro  and apple cores. They didn't know what to do with some oranges someone else had left until Harry peeled them and then fights broke out with the largest iguana always winning. We then hiked to the top of impressive white cliffs overlooking the beach all the while keeping a sharp lookout for iguanas resting in the vegetation and were rewarded with spectacular views.
Back on Juno, the incoming tide was making it rather rolly, so we picked up and moved south to Black Point on Great Guana Cay in time to dinghy to "Lorraine's Cafe" for some rum punch, Bahamian lobster and red snapper, peas and rice, macaroni and cheese, and a fresh vegetable - our first meal out.  Service was slow but it was worth the wait and Lorraine came out from the kitchen to greet all 15 diners in her restaurant before we headed back to the boat under moonlit skies.

Week 2 in the Bahamas, Feb 9th -Feb 16, 2019

Another day another glorious Cay to explore - both above water and below.  This seems to be our mantra this week as we continued moving southerly stopping in Warderick Wells, Cambridge Cay, O'Brien Cay, Big Bell Cay, Rocky Dundas, Compass Cay, and Staniel Cay.

Warderick Wells - Saturday Feb 9th
The Exumas Land and Sea Park encompasses 22 miles and is HQ'd in Warderick Wells.  The Park HQ consists of a building staffed by Cherry and a Bahamian police officer, who each morning at 9 am would broadcast to mariners over the VHF radio, the park rules and accept requests for mooring reservations. We called in and as a blow was forecast, we picked up mooring #19 in the southern mooring field, took a fresh water shower (first time in 5 days yea!) and around 5:30 pm, we dinghied to the beach by the park warden's office for BYO cocktail party with fellow cruisers. We were late arrivers as the party wound down soon after sunset (about 6:00) but we managed to see our first hutia - the native rodent that is about the size of a rabbit. We made it back to the boat just as it started to rain. Funny thing here, the rain showers don't last long, often a single cloud burst so we'd open/close/open/close/... the hatches until we went to bed. Intermittent showers and high winds continued all night long and our water tank sloshed with every wave making a racket (it's located right under our bed) so neither of us got much sleep. Oh well.

Skeleton of whale at Waderick Wells that died from ingesting plastics

Warderick Wells - Sunday Feb, 10th
We experienced the "blow holes" at high tide on Warderick Wells.  This is where large waves crash into the porous rock and in some cases, the porous rock acts as a chimney propelling the incoming wave into a mist that shoots up through the hole into the sky roaring like a lion.  High tide (slack tide) was also time to explore a sunken boat and two other snorkeling spots nearby. Then, after lunch, there was a shore expedition to the ruins of a loyalist plantation close to Beryl's beach.  Apparently, around the revolution, some loyal to England thought they might make a go of life in the Bahamas with their slaves but it proved harder than they thought.  The land here is rough rock (definitely need shoes to walk on) and sand, dense vegetation consisting of short palm trees, poison wood shrubs, and tiny lizards and hutia - but nothing much else is around, not even shore birds.

Living the dream

O'Brien's Cay - Monday Feb 11th 
We moved on to O'Brien's Cay and you've never seen so many shades of turquoise in the water blending into white.  On the Exuma bank, depths are typically 12 feet but shallow to 1 foot or less as one approaches the Cay.  The park rangers onboard "Privateer' who came by to collect our mooring fee at O'Brien's Cay were from the Newport War College, Newport RI.  They volunteer their time for a month and in return, get to live in paradise free of charge.  Anyway, O'Brien's Cay is home to prime snorkeling spots - the "aquarium" and a sunken Cesna plane wreck. The aquarium was aptly named and was our best snorkeling to date.  About 50 6-inch fish would surround you seemingly as curious about us as we were about them.  They'd swim right up to your mask. We then dinghied around O'Brien's Cay finding a 'drift snorkel' spot that was pretty good too.  This is when one person stays in the dinghy while the other person swims because the current through the cuts can run a few knots. Then, around 5 pm, about 45 min before low tide, we moved around to Bell's Cay retracing our GPS route used to get into O'Brien's Cay, and just as we were about to drop anchor, Juno experienced her keel on the bottom for the first time. Thankfully the current helped push us off the sandy bottom so no harm was done.

Cambridge Cay - Tuesday Feb 12th
We hoped to catch the caves at Rocky Dundas at low tide (8:30 am) but the SE winds made it too rough so we sailed to Cambridge Cay, picked up a mooring, and headed to Paradise Beach where we snorkeled Tom's Elkhorn Reef, picked up beach plastic, did yoga, saw our first blue hole just off the beach, then headed to a sandbar for a social gathering of cruisers at 4:30 pm meeting John and Jill on 'Moonshadow' from Lexington, MA. Still getting used to fingers and toes constantly feeling waterlogged and all pruney.

Compass Cay - Wed. Feb 13th
After a bit of tidying the boat, we snorkeled the reef at the southern entrance to Cambridge Cay adjacent to the sand bar and site of yesterday's social gathering, walked to Bell Rock, then sailed on the Exuma Sound (eastern side, deep water) to Compass Cay where we rowed the dinghy to shore and walked a mangrove to "Rachael's Bubbles" where the waves crash over the rocks at high tide, forming a pool and creating a "bubble bath". While there, we met Mark who worked on a luxury yacht. This proved extremely fortunate as when we got back to the dinghy, there was no way we could row against the current back to Juno 100 yards from shore. Mark came to our rescue and towed us out to Juno in his not so small tender.  We then picked up and moved to Fowl Cay for the night so as to be close to the Rocky Dundas Thursday morning.

Bell Rock, Cambridge Cay

Rocky Dundas and Staniel Cay - Thurs. Feb 14th
The weather was much settled, light winds and low tide, so we set out for the caves at Rocky Dundas at 8:30 am.  There were two caves that you'd swim into with stalactites which were pretty cool.  Unfortunately we lost our bailer for the dinghy while there. Then we sailed to Staniel Cay, arriving around noon, just as some intense rain fell while we were circling the gas dock so we decided to skip the gas and find a place to drop anchor for the night. When the rain stopped, we dinghied to the Staniel Cay Yacht Club with our jerry cans for diesel and water. SCYC is more of a marina than a yacht club.  On our way back to Juno, the dinghy got stuck in forward gear. This caused us to do some troubleshooting and plan to find a mechanic on the island in the morning and rendered our dinghy out of commission for the remainder of the day.  Unfortunately Sarah had hoped to catch the island's Valentine's Day barbecue benefitting the library, and was very disappointed that we'd be eating spaghetti on-board for our Valentine's Day dinner.

Thunderball Grotto (Staniel Cay) - Fri. Feb 15th
We thought we'd head to shore early to seek out a mechanic and wouldn't you know it, the dinghy engine slipped right into neutral and all gears were working as expected. Our troubles seem to miraculously fix themselves so we carried on, visiting the Thunderball Grotto - site of a James Bond film from the 60's, at the optimal low tide.  It was a snorkeling adventure unlike any we had experienced as you swim into large rocks that have been scoured out on the inside by rainwater, revealing a huge cave inside that opens to the sky at the top, and is filled with fish.

You find yourself swimming into darkness and then you surface inside in an incredible huge room with stalagtites hanging from the ceiling and walls.  On our way out, Sarah saw a black tipped reef shark so we made a b-line for the dinghy and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing at anchor aboard Juno. With a clear night forecast, Sarah slept in the cockpit under the moonlight and stars.

Grotto and Bay of Pigs - Sat. Feb 16th
We ran about half of Staniel Cay in the morning for some exercise, ending up by the little airstrip, headed back to the boat for a quick dip, and one more visit to Thunderball Grotto.

Then, we drove Juno around the point to the Bay of Pigs, anchored with about 30 other boats and saw the 'swimming pigs' that hang out on Big Major Cay. We had a few meager celery stalks which a pig or two enjoyed but many visitors came with buckets of vegetable scraps causing the pigs to greet each boat that arrives by swimming out to it.  The cutest were the little piglets sleeping in the shade. Winds were light and variable and so we just hung out and re-located back to Staniel Cay for the night.

Harry, Bob Ross, and a Big Major pig

We made it!

Originally we thought we might have time to enjoy Miami and sail further south towards the Florida Keys but the right weather conditions for crossing the Gulf Stream don't happen every day and sometimes may take a week or more to arrive, and a professional weather router advised this would be our best opportunity to cros
 s over for some time. With our desire to get to the Bahamas, the decision to cross was easy and the 3AM wakeup was worth it as we were able sail nearly the entire 50 mile trip under clear skies and a good NW breeze. About dawn (7 am) we noticed another boat making the crossing just behind us and in talking with them on the radio, they gave us advice on choosing their favorite marina in Bimini as our first landfall in the Bahamas.  We now have a much greater appreciation for the ocean depths as just off Miami, the depth drops to 2,000 feet where the ocean stays until a few hundred yards from Bimini where the bottom shallows to 20 feet or less and the water turns turquoise blue and crystal clear.  We had arrived on the The Great Bahama Bank by noon and had our first dock party by sunset.


Highlights of our first week in the Bahamas:

Feb 5: Bimini - watching an 8 foot long bull shark swim right under the boat and sharing a meal with 6 sharks - they ate the head of a wahoo and we enjoyed the muscle from the same 42 pound fish 20 minutes later thanks to a friendly fisherman at our first dock party. Also, comparing notes with friendly boaters at the dock party about when and how to cross further east.

Arriving at North Bimini 

Feb 6-7: Crossing the Great Bahama Bank.  Bimini is technically in the Bahamas but it is still about 110 miles from the Exumas that are still further east, across the Great Bahama Bank and the "tongue of the ocean" where depths go down to 3000 feet or more. It was incredible crossing the Great Bahama Bank (50 miles wide) just east of Bimini with depths ranging from 5-12 feet for the entire 50 miles. No land or person was in sight when we dropped our anchor in the middle of this expansive Bank in only 10 feet of water for our first swim in 75 degrees water. 

Feb. 7:  Highbourne Cay - 8:30 am yoga on the pristine beach, 9:45 breakfast on the boat, 10:15 am snorkeling off the stern. 12:30 Make a picnic lunch, 1:00 dinghy to the resort, bike to East Beach for a picnic lunch on a deserted beach 200 yards long, bike past goats en route to Horseshoe beach, see 2 other people on beach, kayak, bike back to marina and visit with new acquaintances on "Sandy Seas".

Feb 8:  Sail 2.5 hrs to reach Shroud Cay (located in the Exuma Land and Sea Park - a Marine sanctuary) at high tide.  Drop anchor and dinghy through mangroves across Cay. See sea turtles in mangroves and swim through "rapids" as mangrove creek empties into the ocean on the eastern side of the island. Sail 45 minutes to Hawksbill Cay (undeveloped) catch some zzz's on the western beach and hike 15 min to the eastern side of island (no one there but us on a beach that extends for 500 yards), swim, then hike back to western side of the island.

Shroud Cay at "The Rapids" after a dinghy trip up a mangrove creek

Feb. 9: Wait out passing morning rain showers at Hawksbill (undeveloped) while enjoying pancakes and bacon, dinghy to shore to hike to the Russel Ruins (dating from 1785) and then to another eastern beach, collect plastic from the beach and pile plastic on beach (too much to carry back to the boat and the marine park warden advised us to do this as they come by once a month and collect plastic that has washed up -sadly, there is so much plastic on these gorgeous beaches with no one or no civilization in sight). Sail 3.5 hours to Warderick Wells Cay, pick up mooring in 6.5 feet of water (Juno draws 5.5), swim off boat and wash hair (last time was 5 days ago), join park rangers and other boaters for happy hour onshore.

A beach at Hawksbill Cay after a hike on the island

Savannah to Miami

Our plane did make it to Savannah GA as planned on Monday, January 7. That was the only on-time event for a while.  The boat yard was late completing work for us so when we arrived, the boat was still on land. Thanks to Sarah's brother Chris who manages a hotel in Savannah, we stayed our first few nights in a hotel while the boat yard completed their work.  Juno was finally launched Jan. 10th, and we spent the next two days putting her sails on and prepping for our departure from Savannah Sunday Jan. 13th. However, a few hours after leaving the coast of Georgia, we noticed that the propeller did not sound right. It was one of the items the boatyard had supposedly "taken care of" over the holiday layover.  So, we turned back to Savannah and had to haul the boat out to inspect the propeller and after some discussion, Harry realized the boatyard had installed the propeller incorrectly. No worries, the yard with Harry's close oversight, fixed it and Juno was relaunched and now we
  were ready to get the trip started, or so we thought. However, a final check of the radar (not working) an dinghy engine (not working) revealed we had yet a few other problems to be fixed before we could leave. Thank goodness for Ebay and a loaner car at the boatyard which came in handy to retrieve a new (used) replacement radar and only a 4 hr drive from Savannah. There were a few more fits and starts but finally we had everything working and we left Savannah Monday January 21 down the ICW.

The ICW, Intracostal Waterway, is a series of canals, rivers, and bays that run from New Jersey, to Florida, and along the Gulf coast to Texas.  When the wind is against us, non-existent, or just plain nasty, it is a way to make progress south without going outside on the ocean.  As during our trip in October we used the ICW and outside ocean passages to keep moving.

A big milestone was making it Florida on 1/23.  This felt like a great accomplishment after so many false starts.  Once in Florida we spent three days visiting our friend Dick Tillman on Merritt Island.  We were able to anchor Juno in his "backyard" that is on the Banana River.  He graciously lent us his car for an excursion to Disney's Animal Kingdom as well as running some errands for parts at West Marine and the grocery.

After leaving Merritt we took the ICW down to Jupiter where we had lunch with the father of one of Sarah's childhood friends.  One of the challenges along the ICW, especially in Florida are all of the bridges.  The bridges are either a fixed or a drawbridge type.  The fixed bridges along the ICW generally have 65' of clearance and Juno only requires 56'.  The drawbridges either open on a schedule, typically on the hour and half-hour, or they open on demand.  

We had one more equipment delay.  Remember that propeller problem back in Savannah?  Well, it was starting to sound not so good again. We called around and found a boatyard that was part of the same company as in Savannah.  Unfortunately we were a half day beyond it already. The advantage of using this yard though was that they would take us right away.  At others, we were looking at a week or more before they would have time to look at the problem.  So we backtracked and once more Juno was hauled out.  The yard agreed that the sounds we were hearing were not normal, but that they also thought that we could continue without a problem and get it serviced in July when we get back to Massachusetts.  Despite this taking two days out of our trip, it was reassuring to have experts confirm that we were good to go.

Now back on the move, we encountered a third type of bridge not previously considered. That is a drawbridge that is broken and cannot open, turning it into a fixed bridge with only 30' of clearance.  In the end it didn't hurt us too badly. We simply went outside to the ocean, after a small backtrack. For that leg we had an overnight sail to Miami.  During an overnight passage in the ocean, we take turns keeping watch and adjusting the sails. Meanwhile the other attempts to get some sleep.  If we each get four hours overnight we are doing pretty well. 

In the 19 hrs that we were in Miami/Coconut Grove Feb 4, we dropped in on Snipe sailing friends that were finishing a regatta at Coconut Grove Sailing Club just in time for their award ceremony.  It was fun to see some familiar faces including Jim Bowers and Julia Marsh - the former of whom lives about 1/4 mile from us in Winchester! Although we didn't get to compete in the regatta ourselves because of our earlier delays, we made a last trip to West Marine, enjoyed a nice dinner off the boat in a Coconut Grove while watching Tom Brady and the Patriots win another Super Bowl then it was time to prep the boat for our 3AM departure and get a few hours of sleep.

Frosty morning in Savannah

Sarah fixing our radar

Hot soup on a brisk day, but otherwise beautiful

The ICW in Georgia

One of many bridges on the ICW