Rodriguez Key to Nassau Harbor 2/21-2/26

Wifi FINALLY! We ended up buying a wifi booster here in Nassau to get signal.

The 4 am departure from Rodriguez on Tuesday morning went smoothly, there were several other boats that had the same idea, and we made it out past Molasses Reef by 5, so still only moonlight to guide us and set a course south of our intended goal of Gun Cay Cut. It's like being back in 6th or 7th grade math class doing a word problem - trying to figure just how far south we should head to get the best boost from the Gulf Stream. Much discussion! The next hour was really rolly and we were a little worried about this "quiet crossing", but when the sun came up and we hoisted sails and it smoothed right out. We made 8+ knots for a good part of the ride. Anyways we made it to Gun Cay Cut at 2:00 pm and got to experience a "rage". That's when the current rushes off the banks through narrow cuts and meets the opposing wind and current of the Gulf. Only ten minutes of it, but that was enough. All of a sudden we were in calm CLEAR shallow water. We continued on until just before dark and picked a spot one mile off the rhumb line course and dropped the hook in 12 feet of water, 25 -30 miles from anywhere! The wind was down to 5-9 knots so our "cozy little anchorage" was quiet.

Between sunrise and sunset there was little to see, Gun Cay Cut light (needs paint), the rage (picture doesn't do it justice) , then clear shallow water......and..... MORE Portuguese Man o' Wars! We tried running over them, but the just popped back up again. At least they all seemed to stay on the US side of the Gulf Stream.

Still one of my favorite things is watching the shadow of the sail reflected off the bottom as we crossed the bank.

Another early start on Wednesday, we still had 60 nm to go, so anchors were up by 7 and we motor-sailed toward NW Channel light and then rolled in the jib as the wind was down to 2 knots and powered on to the Berry Island Club on the east side of Frazier's Hog Cay. We picked up moorings there (still sporting our yellow quarantine flags) with the intention of checking in in the morning. We put our dinghy down so Dan could go in and pay for the moorings and arrange for a trip to the airport in the morning for checking into the Bahamas. On our way to Pekabu III for a very fancy celebratory dinner (Beef Wellington) we stopped by another boat on one of the moorings and struck up a conversation with the cruisers and they told us the latest weather report was for strong SE winds building on Thursday and continuing until Sunday. They planned to leave at 7 am and head to Nassau (direction SE) and after discussion at our amazing dinner we decided to follow suit.

The Berry Island Club is all there is here, and it's not very grand, but the moorings are great. The white shadow beneath the ball is a LARGE, I mean LARGE cement block and all the tackle is new. Note the yellow quarantine flags.

SO....ANOTHER early start on Thursday! 7 am. The wind was on the nose the entire way to Nassau (32 miles) but it hadn't built yet, so the ride wasn't bad at all. The morning show of weather was quite dramatic and with "red sky at morning, sailors take warning"we were pleasantly surprised as the skies cleared by around 10:30 and our arrival in Nassau Harbour was under blue skies.

We passed by 3 towering cruise ship and one amazing "pleasure craft" as we entered the harbor. It is owned by the nephew of the Saudi king, and is listed as one of the 100 largest private yachts in the world. Built in 1984 it had belonged to former Saudi King Fahd.

Nassau hasn't changed much in two years, still crowded and noisy and dirty, we'll be glad to head out after the kids arrive. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

ON OUR WAY Marina del Mar to Rodriguez Key

Saturday morning we still had the rented car, so off to Publix to get last minute items. When we got back, Diver Dan made another trip down to adjust the pitch on the prop one more time. We decided to wait to test it until we head out. Pete and Kathy spent the day in Miami with Howie and Ann at an art show, so it was a foursome for dinner aboard Andiamo. Pete and Kathy were back in time to join us for dessert and we discussed the weather and decided to postpone our departure one more day.

There was a flurry of activity aboard all three boats on Sunday as we used lots of (free) water to wash everything is sight as we got really serious about the big departure. We had delayed it one more day as the ridge bringing the south winds didn't arrive as predicted, so one last trip to the Sunday flea market, one last swim in the pool and one more dinner on the veranda. We returned our rental car and packed up and stowed the bikes.

Today we had our last batch of French toast out by the pool ( President's Weekend filled the whole hotel, and all the seats on the veranda were taken!), filled the water tanks and all the extra water jugs, retrieved all our frozen food from Candi's (the dockmaster) freezer and followed the glass bottom boat out at 1:00 pm. High tide was at 11:00, but we still had enough water to head out of the canal. There was one other boat already anchored at Rodriguez Key when we got out there, but the number swelled to 20 or so by the time the sun had set.

As we backed out of the slip Dan kept telling me to back up more, well I had it flat out in reverse and we barely moved an inch, but with a push from well wishers on shore we made it out to the fairway and headed for "crash corner". Once out of the canal we opened up and found that the additional 4 degrees only got us 1000 more RPMs and now we had little or no power in reverse! Dan called PYI yet again and Fred suggested going back to the previous setting, so down went Diver Dan again! Still with the same small set screw - - and no spares aboard! Steady hands that he has (NOT) it came out, up on deck for me to hold and back in without a hitch. As we were already anchored we couldn't test it all that well, but we backed down harder on the anchor and Dan was satisfied.

He wasn't sure his diving days were over yet because right about then we got a call from Sevilla saying they were under sail approaching Rodriguez Key on their way up to Miami and had heard a loud thumping earlier and then the engine slowed. Luckily by the time they anchored they seemed to have cleared the prop and dropped the hook right near all of us. Well, tomorrow our departure time is 4:00 AM, so it's off to bed. We aren't sure where our next "hot spot" will be, but we'll write when we hit it! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Deja vue double time, this could have been today, or last Thursday, but it was actually on Saturday when Dan made another 4 degree adjustment to the pitch of the Ecowind propeller.

Our send off was grand, Fonda, Frank and Buster had become good friends during our stay. Tom was a friend from our last visit to Marina del Mar and even the Great White Heron seemed to be sad to see us go.

We were the 2nd boat to arrive at Rodriguez Key followed shortly by Pekabu III and Andiamo. By 5:00 we had been joined by Sevilla! - - - and several other boats ready to head across in the morning.

The 74' yacht anchored in front of us was sporting lots of lights including the fantail underwater ones. I tried to get a picture (upper left) and Dan declared he knew how to get a better one and headed to the bow. The next 4 are his, can't say any are any good! We'll have to wait for Sam who got a teriffic similar shot last time.