May 2021

 

As much fun as we have been having, we realized that time was getting short to get to Virginia in time for our doctors’ appointments in mid-June. 

Having arrived in Meeks Patch the last day of April, we decided to dink into Spanish Wells for lunch, groceries & stone crab.  We managed 2 out of 3.  😊 By the time we arrived at the seafood market they had closed.  Only open till noon on Saturdays.  Since we were not aware that it would be closed, we did not buy any meats at the grocery.  No big deal, we had nice salad fixings and we had a wonderful lunch at Buddha's in Spanish Wells.

For many years Spanish Wells was dry.  On our first trip in 2003 we had to take a water taxi over to Eleuthera for a liquor store.  Much has changed since then.  The restaurant at the harbor entrance, where I had a turtle burger is now a real estate office and catching turtle is now illegal.

Lunch at Buddas was great as usual. 

Rob had a conch burger and I had a grouper sandwich.  Both were great.  With full tummy’s, groceries done & no stone crab we went back to the boat. 

We crossed back to the Abacos on the 3^rd.  We always fish on this passage and usually end up with fresh mahi or tuna for our arrival.  We hooked two mahi, one a bull dolphin & the other a schoolie, got each to the boat but neither one in the boat!  Of course, our speed was painfully slow so we called Brown Tip the following day.

He came as promised and the growth coming off the bottom was fierce.  He said he was going conching when he left us so we asked him to bring some by if he has enough!  Enough???? Just check out his boat.

That is Brown Tip.  What a nice man.

We had to stop at Colours again.  This is what is left of the original building and the new restaurant.

Fully provisioned & with a clean bottom off we went to Guana Cay.  We opted for a mooring in Orchid Bay as westerly winds were forecast.  We walked over to Nippers and it doesn’t look like a lot has been done since we were there in December.

We decided on lunch at Grabbers and split an order of fish tacos.  More than enough food!  I opted for the Grabber, their signature drink and not only was it served with a paper straw, even the cup was made from plant fiber.  The Bahamas did away with plastic ‘Thank You’ bags a year ago and are moving in the right direction.

On to Green Turtle where we had an interesting passage around Whale Cay.  The sky had looked threatening when we got underway but then turned black with lightening all around.

The only time we got off the boat at Green Turtle was for fuel.  The dink was up & secured for the ocean passage and I found out the fuel dock opened at 7:30am.  Unfortunately for us, a large motor yacht arrived and the only place to put him was the fuel dock.  Down goes the dink, on goes the fuel tank & motor and off to the inner fuel dock we went.  We added 18 gal & had 18 on deck and off towards Crab Cay we sailed.  Later than planned as we had to take off the fuel tank, raise the motor & raise the dink.  Oh well, such is the life of cruising.

We had a wonderful sail from Green Turtle to Allens-Pensacola.  It only took 5 hours for 35 km and we only used the engine for 2hrs.  That was to charge the batteries & fridge.

We had planned to go to Crab Cay but the wind had clocked to the west & Crab Cay is open to westerlies so on to Allens-Pensacola we went.  They used to be 2 separate cays but a hurricane many years ago joined them.  It’s a small anchorage but very comfortable. 

The following day was yet again a fantastic sail.  We went from Allens-Pensacola to Great Sale Cay, 46km in 6.5hrs and only used the engine for 2.5hrs.  There were several other boats, both power & sail and we settled in for a last hearty meal before the crossing.

Normally we cross from Great Sale directly to Charleston but the north winds were due to pick up in a couple of days which would make the gulf stream very uncomfortable.  Because of this we changed our destination to Fernandina Beach knowing we could always divert to Canaveral or St. Augustine if need be.

We could really tell the difference with a clean bottom!

We always wear our inflatable life vests & tethers when doing an ocean passage.

We departed Great Sale to 5:45am on Monday 5/10/21.  Of course, it still dark and Rob wondered where the boat that was behind us had gone.  The anchorage is shaped somewhat like a boomerang. As we left the anchorage, we noticed a boat on the other side.  I was on the helm about 7:30am when I heard a boat calling anyone in Great Sale.  Thinking he was looking for weather or population I responded.  It was the boat that had been behind us.  They had drug anchor during the night with their hook being caught in a submerged tree (from the hurricane) and were aground on the far shore.  Lucky for him there were still a few large power boats with large tenders that were able to assist.

The crossing wasn’t bad at all, just long.  These 3-day passages are getting tough and two was tiring enough.  About 100 miles from Fernandina, we had a visitor aboard.

We approached the inlet at first light on Wednesday 5/12/21 with a foul current of course and had the hook down at 7:25am at Cumberland Island rather than Fernandina as north winds were forecasted. Cumberland Island is part of the National Park Service and is a wonderful place to visit.    We were keyed up & needed to check in with the Cruiseheimers Net on the SSB ay 0830 so we made coffee & tided up the boat from the crossing then contacted friends & family. We never did nap that day.  

We heard from our friends Brad & Jeannie of S/V What Next and they were headed to Fernandina & the marina for the night then coming to Cumberland Island, the other side of the inlet.  There is a good seafood market there near the marina & they picked up 2lbs of shrimp for us as our meat supply was almost gone.  Only a pack of Smithfield ribs remained.  They arrived the next day but it was too rough to get together.  The predicted northerly had arrived and while heading into shore would not be bad, we were guaranteed to be soaked coming back.

We launched the dink the following day & picked up Brad & Jeannie for a nice walk on the island.  The place is full of wildlife.  Birds, horses, armadillos and more.  Here is some of what we saw:

                            Not sure what kind of bird but the nest was tiny!

                 This little guy could have cared less about us, it was lunchtime!

                                                     Just a little butt rub!

Another sight at Cumberland are the ruins of Dungeness.  The home has a long history but is most famous as home to Thomas & Lucy Carnegie.  It was completed by the Carnegie family in 1925 and was destroyed by fire/vandalism in 1956.

                                                             Notice the osprey!

                                      One of the outer places of tranquility:

                                                     Such a beautiful walkway!

                                                        Rob, Brad & Jeannie

                                                       Low-tide lunchtime!

While Brad & Jeannie opted to leave for Southport NC on Sunday, we decided to leave for Charleston SC on Monday.

The wind gods were not kind.  The predicted easterly wind was NNE and we saw that we did not have enough fuel to make Charleston.  We opted to head into Brunswick as the marina with fuel was fairly close to the inlet.  As we were coming in, we were hailed by S/V Sequel, Joel & Donna, friends from home.  We got our fuel and dropped the hook near the marina and they came over for a visit.  They have the cutest little rescue dog Molly who also joined us. 

Here is what remains of the RO-RO vessel Red Sky that went aground in the inlet over a year ago.

The next morning, we left again bound for Charleston & yet again we were waylaid to St. Catherine's Sound & Kilkenny Creek.

We still had not been to a grocery store and we had been back in the US for a week.

The 19^th saw us to Turner Creek near Savannah.  There is a Publix grocery right there & as always, the sight of a US grocery is overwhelming after being gone for months.  Since we needed to make some miles, we did not stay in the Savannah area although we have dear friends there.  We have yet to get a Covid vaccine and that too is another reason to stay distant.

On to Beaufort, SC we went the next day where we were able to get shore-showers and a stop at the Chocolate Tree which is always a treat.  Church Creek for the following night & then on to the Stono River to visit Bobby & Francie of Barefootin.

While I didn’t take any photos while there, we did get these of a pair of Bald Eagles.

It was a great visit.  We were able to see Hayes, their daughter whose wedding we attended in Hope Town in the Abacos and meet her two lovely girls.  We also got to meet Annie-Boo, Francie’s sister.  We finally got to meet Dave & Peggy of S/V Simplicity who we had had contact with but had never met face to face.  It was a most enjoyable time but we needed to head on.  We decided to stage at the yacht club on James Island to head out of Charleston Harbor bright & early the next morning.

About 6:30pm we pulled the anchor & started towards Elliott Cut.  We had not gone very far & there was a terrible vibration.  Put the engine in reverse & sure enough……out came a float from a crab pot.  While it did not seem that we still had the pot attached, there was still an awful vibration and our speed was greatly reduced.  The bridge tender was very accommodating of our engine problems & opened right up for us.  Instead of heading towards the harbor entrance we opted to drop anchor across from the mega dock.

I spoke with Tow Boat via the 800 number as no one answered on the VHF.  He gave me the local info and as it was about 7pm we opted to wait till morning.

They arrived about 10:30am and were done in less than an hour.  The pictures tell the story……

After that adventure, we decided to stage at the yacht club (again), which we did and off to Winyah Bay we went at 0630 the next morning.

It was a wonderful sail!  We were underway about 12 hours & used the engine 3.8hrs which was leaving & entering the harbors.  I must admit that it did get a bit ‘sporty’ towards the end.

We did not dawdle in George Town as we had already lost some time & weather was predicted for Memorial Day weekend.  We had lunch at a wonderful place, Tuscan Grill, which had outdoor seating and made a trip to Independent Seafood for shrimp, scallops & grouper.  We were met at the entrance by their mascot…

                                      Some pics from the Waccamaw River.

We left George Town bright & early the next morning and made Calabash at dead low tide.  If you have been there in a cruising boat you know how shoal it can be.  The first indication was a shrimp boat aground just outside the Calabash entrance.

I decided to edge on past him and came to a stop just before the Calabash “2”.  The tide had just changed so we were off in short order & dropped the hook behind a catamaran.  A bit later we saw another ketch heading in our direction.  They opted to anchor at the corner of the ICW & Calabash Creek.  We were relaxing in the cockpit and noticed that a man in the dink from the other ketch was having engine problems.  We told him to row to us & we would try to help.  We figured that if nothing else we could launch our dinghy & tow him back.  The current is very strong in there.

His name was Jeff & his boat is a Pearson 365, just like ours.  Super nice man.  His wife Ruthie was onboard Vixen & was having trouble with the VHF so we called her by phone.  Between Rob & Jeff they figured out the problem (bad fuel line) and we had extra so we hooked him up with fuel line & a splash of Startron and his engine came back to life.  That’s what boaters do, help each other when in need.

On to Carolina Beach where we again picked up a mooring as strong winds were forecast.   On the way there we passed through Southport where the marinas were devastated by the hurricane a year ago.  What a difference from when we went by last fall.

It was cold & blustery so we never got off the boat. On Memorial Day we took off for Mile Hammock Bay on Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

By this time, we have put in some long days and have a few problems to address (propane) & are in need of a grocery shop so the first of June finds us underway to Town Creek in Beaufort, NC where we will spend a few days.

Till next time.