Brunelle "Back(b)log"

SOooo...if you're not too tired of reading here is a quick synopsis of our month in Palm Beach Gardens. We ate well!  Lots of dinners up on the deck by the office of the marina with Ragtime & Sevilla.   We also had dinner at Tessie's a few times.  We ate out,...we ate well!!  We also decided we needed to see how Dan's mom was, so we drove home for a whirlwind visit that included a non-Super Bowl party with our local crew, two short visits with Mom, a "white-out" send-off from Spring Grove and then a stop in St. Augustine on the way back to see Jay and Pegg and to pick up mail and "stuff" we had left there.

We also drove across to visit John and Brandi and arrived the same day as their new rescue dog, so we arranged for Dory to have a "sleepover" with Linda and Bill Shenko. During our 22 hour visit, we helped Linda buy a Hobie Mirage Sport! (She has been out several times and LOVES it.)

Dory and Linda have some beach time on Fort Myers Beach after her overnight.

Gerry (Ragtime) has been worried about the added weight of his new OB motor, so he bought some dynema line and Dan and Jeanne hauled him up the mast to install it to help support his dinghy davits.  On the way down, he polished the undersides of his spreaders.  "You missed a spot, Ger!"

Maureen has a friend (from Annapolis) who winters down here and is deeply involved and interested in the arts.  She took "the girls" to the Norton Museum to see a special exhibition about Women and the Arts.  It was an amazing museum---easily on a par with DC stuff.  I enjoyed it all, but was very taken by a special installation by Dale Chihuly in the ceiling of a separate room.  It made me more anxious to get to the reefs of the Bahamas!

AMAZING!!

See the putti riding a dolphin?

We were looking for things to do, so we went to a Trawler Fest in Riviera Beach, sorry, no pix, we're not quite ready to  go to the "dark side".  We also headed down to the Miami Boat show which was spread out across Biscayne Bay.  Strictly Sail was near downtown by the American Airlines Arena and the rest was a bus or water taxi ride across Biscayne Bay to the Marine Stadium.  All we came away with was tired feet and some super (better than superglue) glue!  Jeanne, Gerry and the Blisses met up with Mike and Debbie who had driven up from Marathon to join us.

The Miami skyline can be seen behind the Marine Stadium venue.  Traffic into the venue was busy including several seaplanes, the Rickenbacker Causeway is in the background.  I got a kick of this person trying to master the water
 jet pack powered by the jetski.

We were all set to meet Bill and Linda at the Dania Nautical Flea Market-largest in the world! (today) but when the "window" opened we "jumped out" and here we are loving being here, 

finally.        ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Resting comfortably at Leeward Yacht Club on Green Turtle Cay.

Sad to say good by to our friends and neighbors at Palm Beach Gardens.  We had a great time for 5 weeks, but the waiting
kept us on edge a bit.  When we heard there was a chance we TOOK IT!

A special thanks to Glen Nemecek who got up at 3:45 am to help us slip out of our slip and head down Lake Worth  toward to Lake Worth Inlet.  There was half a moon, but also lots of lights from all the homes along the water, including several eerie green underwater lights that don't seem to be attached anywhere!

We left the Inlet at 5:30 after making the 4:30 PGA bridge and the 4:45 Parker bridge openings.  True to the reports the seas and wind were calm and we reached to "triangulation point" near Memory Rock (one of the entrances to the Little Bahamas Bank) at 2:30 pm.  We saw a few flying fish, a few Portuguese Man of War jelly fish, and the AIS spotted a few ships (including the Carnival Fascination---which was bringing Pegg Bliss to Nassau with friends!)  We thought there would be lots more of us crossing, but didn't see or hear anyone until around noon when Resolve hailed us and we learned Mike and Debbie were about 12 miles behind us!  

We crossed onto the Bank and headed toward Mangrove Cay (23 nm away).  As luck would have it we reached to bank  right at high tide so were comfortable crossing over 6 ft spots.  Once on the bank, we saw 10-15 ft the rest of the way.

Starting upper left: We began to see the sky lightening just after leaving Lake Worth Inlet. The sun rose just under a bank of
clouds, it also set with enough haze just after we had anchored to keep the green flash at bay.  Dan did see this turtle which
was as big as a table. Dory and I both are wearing life jackets for the crossing.  Center:  I always love seeing our mainsail
reflected on the bottom in this crystal clear water.

We dropped the hook just after 5:30 and fired up the grill to have a celebratory dinner.  Steak, potato packets and salad.  Everything tastes better in the Bahamas!!!   It was still twilight when  Resolve and two other boats dropped anchor near us. As we were radioing back and forth with Resolve we heard from another boat also anchored near us who was looking for the fastest way to get internet access, we also heard from one of the boats traveling with Resolve  that he had clinking noise in his engine. With radio chatter going round and round Dan offered to pick up the internet seeker who was an engine mechanic to take over to the clinking engine in the AM.  The prognosis came back potential head gasket, so the OC40 Merlin headed back to Ft. Pierce!  That left Resolve, Brunelle, Sea Wolf(50' Prout Catamaran), and  Mariners Dream (44' coverted Canadian style lobster boat) to head on toward Crab Cay.

Sunrise over Mangrove Cay.  Not an ideal spot for "watering"  Dory, but it worked.               

We're glad to have finally met up with Resolve.  

We had a great sail from Mangrove 62 nm to Crab Cay, just off the tip of Little Abaco Cay.   Sea Wolf  had been trolling across the Gulf Stream and pulled in a Mackerel.  They invited us all over for a potluck dinner.  Mariners Dream  declined, so there were 6 of us enjoying our second dinner in the Bahamas.  

Thursday the wind had shifted, but that just made it easier to make the turn and head for Green Turtle Cay.  We anchored off New Plymouth settlement just outside of Black Sound and dinghied in to check in at the Customs office.  We got there at 12:50 and were out just in time for the Customs lady to go to lunch at 1:00!  After several hundred dollars and much angst, Dory was "in" without a hitch!

The wind kept strengthening as we sat at anchor waiting for high tide (the entrance to Black Sound has a shallow spot) and we saw the gauge hit 27 knots!

We headed in just before 3 pm and didn't see anything shallower than 7'.  We found out it was pizza night here at the Tiki Bar so we had Resolve, Sea Wolf and Mariners Dream over for drinks and pizza

Brunelle  happily in a slip at Leeward Yacht Club on Green Turtle Cay.

SOooo...if you're not tired of reading here is a quick synopsis of our month in Palm Beach Gardens. We ate well!  Lots of dinners up on the deck by the office of the marina with Ragtime & Sevilla.   We also had dinner at Tessie's a few times.  We ate out,...we ate well!!  We also decided we needed to see how Dan's mom was, so we drove home for a whirlwind visit that included a non-Super Bowl party with our local crew.  Two short visits with Mom and then a stop in St. Augustine on the way back to see Jay and Pegg and to pick up mail and "stuff" we had left there.  We also drove across to visit John and Brandi and arrived the same day as their new rescue dog, so we arranged for Dory to have a "sleepover" with Linda and Bill Shenko. During our 22 hour visit, we helped Linda buy a Hobie Mirage Sport!

"On the road again"!!

After listening to several weather reports this AM Dad declared our window had arrived. We spent the day getting Dory "papers". stocking up. returning car, etc. etc. so we hope to head out of here at 4 am tomorrow to head across to the Little Bahamas Bank north of Grand Bahama Island. We hope to check in at Spanish Cay and then head around the Abacos for a while. ~~~_/)~~~M&D (Edited from email Tuesday March 1 by your humble blog admin, Sam)