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.

Road Trip - Miami Boat Show

All six of us were in the van and ready to go by 8:15. The ride up to Miami was about two hours and took us all the way up the Dixie Highway through much of south Miami. We arrived at the AA Arena where we were able to park in an underground garage just a short walk from the Water Taxi that would take us to the Strictly Sail (in water) part of the Boat Show. (a lot more fun than the school buses that take you from the Navy stadium to the Annapolis show!) We were surprised that the number of sailboats didn't come close to equaling the numbers we've seen in Annapolis. There was a small tent of vendors to pass through on the way to the docks, and we browsed a bit before heading to the Catalina dock to see who and what was there. Gerry Helldorfer met us there and we also were happy to see Yachta, Yachta friends Lyn and Paul Erb manning the Catalina store booth. We had decided not to try to stay together (likened to herding cats) for the day, but we did all get together to share a lunch with Gerry and swap tales.

After lunch we spent a little more time on the docks and happened to run into Erik and Marti Lostrom (my godson and his wife) who were down from Kent Island, MD to check things out and meet with some of their vendors, kind of a working vacation. We also made sure to visit the Presto 30 called Thorfinn because an old friend from my Maine days, Ben Emory, had told us he and his wife Diana are buying #7 and his son, Thor, has #2 which he raced in the Ft. Lauderdale-Key West race last month and come in 2nd. It's a very interesting design, worth googling. We missed Thor, but got to look her over. We then took the shuttle to the Miami Convention Center for the indoor portion of the show. WHAT A DEJA VUE experience that was! We walked in and stopped and looked at each other. The atmosphere was exactly like the good old days at what we always knew as THE boat show - at the Coliseum in NYC. We were a little disappointed at how much of the indoor show was taken up with smaller power boats, engines and fishing gear. We still managed to make a complete day of it and didn't get back to Marina del Mar until 8:00 pm where we headed to Sharkey's for their famous Friday Fish Fry. A little too noisy, but the fish was excellent. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

The water taxi whisked us quickly from the parking garage to the strictly sail portion of the show.

This is what greeted us when we headed over to the Miami Convention Center for the indoor portion of the show.

Busy day in Key Largo

We had an early start today because the tide was high a 7:53 am and we wanted to take a spin outside the canal to test the adjustment Dan made yesterday. Everyone (except Pete who had a 7:15 conference call) joined us for our morning run and we set off a few minutes before 8. We are so isolated from the real world here at Marina del Mar that we forget that there are strong winds once you pass the jetty at the entrance to the canal. It is also hard to imagine that Rt. 1 is only 500 yards away in the other direction. Anyway the wind was pretty strong out of the east as we headed out, but it didn't keep us from reaching 7 knots - - - this time we made it up to 26 RPMs - - - still not what Westerbeke and PYI would like to see, so Fred wrote this evening suggesting a further 4 degree adjustment. Dan isn't sure whether to do it here or wait until we get across.

We were back in the slip by 9 and got a call from Enterprise saying our mini-van was ready and we could pick it up any time. Long story short, John and I walked up and waited over an hour outside the office before finally getting the van. We came back and picked everyone up for a lunch excursion. Candi, the dockmaster, suggested Gilbert's Raw Bar and Grill about 9 miles north and on the bay side. It was a great place and lunch was good. We stopped at a farm stand on the way back and got some fruits and veggies. We also hit Publix hopefully for the last time and I got permission from Candi to freeze all my meats in her chest freezer when we got back.

Tonight was dinner and a movie. We ordered pizza and Joy and Dean (from Saskatchewan) who live aboard all winter down here brought African Queen for us to watch. What a treat. Tomorrow the Miami Boat Show. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

What a loyal bunch, everyone got up early to join us on our morning test run of the new propeller settings.

The invasion is moving into Port Largo Canal. We went through a fleet of Portugese Man of War jellyfish on our way out this morning.

Our lunch excursion to Gilbert's was a nice change. It gave us a good look at the Florida Bay side of the Keys plus a good lunch. We liked the name of the Catalina 36 we saw moored off the restaurant.

The wait continues

Well at least we are getting all our ducks in a row while waiting! We spent an hour on the veranda Tuesday morning signing over 50 different pieces of paper as we finalized the refinancing on the house. The notary was also a real estate agent and said she'd be glad to sell us a home if we were interested! One house is enough.

Dan was feeling much better, but not quite ready to go diving again. He had been in contact with Fred at PYI about re-setting the spring on the Ecowind and Fred told him to use the two screws he had included in the box with the prop. That was news to us, we hadn't seen any small baggie with parts when we unpacked the prop. When I took the box up to the front desk on Thursday to ask where to dispose of it, the manager said to leave it in the office because they liked to have one around for mailing stuff. Luck was with us, the box was still there and the baggie was in it! The prop work was done today, so we are taking a little jaunt tomorrow morning to see how the adjustment worked.

We've been here long enough that the regulars (fishing boats for hire, dive boats, etc.) are getting to know us, so when Andiamo's neighbor came back with a good catch yesterday, he offered them some yellowtail filets. John cooked them on the grill and they were delicious. We were looking forward to fresh fish in the Bahamas, didn't expect to get it here. We have signed up for a rental car for the next two days, hopefully for our LAST provisioning trip before we leave and also to go to the Miami Boat Show on Friday. I know, what could we possibly need!? We'll see. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Diving Dan does it again. The hex set with the tiny set screw was just one more bit of his great mastery

Coconuts, the restaurant on the corner has been sporting the dilapidated canvas awning since we were here two years ago, it finally is getting a facelift. We haven't eaten there because we have been enjoying our veranda dinners too much.

Sun/Mon here we still are

The weather may be better,( still too windy from the North but sunny and warmer ), but poor Dan is under the weather. We aren't sure what hit him, but he's been laying low all day. Chicken soup for dinner didn't do the trick, I hope more sleep will!

Yesterday we did a short "sea trial" with the new propeller and could definitely tell the difference. We headed out mid afternoon (on a rising tide - a necessity for getting out across the shallows at the entrance to the Port Largo Canal) and were definitely doing at least one knot more in speed even with the engine only at 2200 RPM. That actually was our top RPM, so Dan will be going down under again to adjust the pitch of the prop.

Between yesterday and today I got both Grandma's and our taxes done - hooray - and with the carryover credit from putting in geothermal heat last year, we will be getting everything back! I clicked "send" about 8:30 tonight, what a great relief. Tomorrow we are meeting with a Notary to "close" on refinancing the house - Chase offered us 1/2 % less than we currently are paying with NO costs of any kind, so we jumped, and luckily it is all coming together before we "leave the country!" Next we just need the weather to fall into place. ~~~_/)~~~M&D

My first attempt at macrame - had to keep busy while Dan is sleeping.

Cold Front hits Key Largo

Brunelle and Pekabu III's crews were the only ones to brave the north winds and chilly temps and eat on the veranda today. Everyone else ate in the lobby or aboard their boats. It was jacket weather, but still much better than snow! After breakfast Dan still had work to do on getting another wire up through the hollow table leg in the cockpit to get more juice to all the electronics. He also wanted to find a home for the old propeller down in the port lazarette. This entailed taking everything out of the lazarette and Dan climbing down into it. Not an easy feat. I ended up lying on the cockpit sole to try to work the wire up through the maze of wires already there. Soap and a very skinny leader string finally did the trick.

Dan had sold me on the idea of the new prop partly because PYI the Max Prop dealer offered to buy back the old one. After yesterday's installation, Dan called PYI and asked about sending the old one back, with the hesitation that he isn't sure just how well the new one will work. Fred from PYI told him he wouldn't head over to the Bahamas without having the old one as a spare and would wait until we return to make the trade in deal. Thus the need to find it a home.

That took all morning, so after lunch we began to work on taxes. Sam has been collecting our mail and had what we needed to get them done, so that took all afternoon. It is amazing how fast the time flies here! We keep thinking we'll go stir crazy sitting here waiting, but all of us agree that the days are flying by. Nothing looks good for most of next week, so here we still are.

Tonight was dinner and a movie. I had made a pot of chili and cornbread and we gathered on Andiamo (down below) for a hearty meal and movie. We all actually stayed awake past 9:00 pm! ~~~_/)~~~M&D

Here's Dan - - in a compromising position, and here's all the stuff that has to be removed for him to be able to wiggle down in the lazarette. His struggling to come out made me think of the yellow headed jawfish (see Super (Bowl) Sunday post for pix) that digs a burrow and pops up and down waiting for unsuspecting prey.

Any movie buffs know what we watched?