Not My favorite Crossing

March 31 2013 Easter Sunday

We weighed anchor at first light leaving Vero Beach. The route that we were taking was the same one that we took the first time we crossed together in 2011.  We were to go out the Ft.Pierce inlet, sail south to about Jupiter then hold 95 degrees and ride the gulf stream up and go to Matanilla shoals.  We had checked the weather and knew we had to make Matanilla shoals by 1:00 a.m.  The weather window was very good but the waves and winds were to increase at Midnight.  Waves were to be 4 feet at 5 seconds and the winds were to pick up to about 20.  This was not anything more than we had been in before, we just knew it was going to be uncomfortable.  The quicker we got there, the less time we would be in the rough weather. We made good time in the ICW from Vero to Ft. Pierce.  We were hoping to make our turn at Jupiter around 4 pm. The boat was only going 2 to 3 knots and we thought it was due to the wind and waves on our nose. We finally realized that at only 4 miles off shore we were fighting a north current. We headed closer to shore and the boat speed picked up. We did not make our turn until about 7:00 p.m..  This was three hours later than we had hoped.

 

Leaving Ft. Pierce, these are the jetties that George played on  as a child.

Before making our turn and losing cell phone coverage, we called our children to say goodbye and that we would not be in contact before Wednesday.  As I was talking to Jill I spotted a sea turtle.  I was trying to show George, well I had a blond moment, while talking on the cell phone, I pointed to the turtle with the other hand…bad move…hit a wave …down I went but I held on to the cell phone.   

Also, I always ask my sweet facebook friends to send up prayers as we cross over the gulfstream.  After I sent the message on facebook, one of my friends commented back, ” where is Hells Gate, Florida, that is where you message was sent from, we sure will be praying”.  Needless to say I did not have a warm and comforting feeling knowing that. 

I had planned the watch schedule very carefully, making sure George was on watch at 12:00 that was when it was to pick up. We were going to take 4 hour shifts. I don’t remember what happened to the watch schedule.  I just know that at 11:30 I took the helm and it had already picked up. George laid down in the cockpit instead of going below for his rest.  By 1:00 the rolls would put the rails almost in the water on one side then on the other side.  It was not happening but every few minutes. I was not scared just very very uncomfortable.  I had to hold on with both hands and plant my feet to keep my balance. Every muscle in my body was tense, some from nerves but mostly just to keep my balance.  I knew George had to get some sleep so I wanted to hold on for at least three hours.  About 2:00 the rolling had become very regular and I was exhausted from every muscle being tense. I told George,  “ You’ve got to take it.”  Of course he was aware of the rolling because of my occasional exclamations. At that time the wind was 22 to 28 knots and the seas were 4 to 6 feet with an occasional 8 foot wave on a 5 second period.  To make it worse the waves were on our beam which increases the rolling. George then turned 40 degrees off course to limit the rolling and make the ride slightly more comfortable.  As George was at the helm I was down below trying to pick up the mess below.  K cups were everywhere, the computer, ipad books coffee pot everything that was not in a cabinet was on the floor.  I was trying to put up things off of the floor,  but George told me just leave it because it was not safe to move around down below.  At 4:00 we were on the banks. Normally the banks are calm but that night they were only less rough. I took the watch back over about 4:30 and about daylight the seas calmed down.  The sunrise was a welcome sight.   We finally got to the anchorage around 3:00 pm on Monday and we had completed a 32 hour nonstop journey. We were still a little squirrely, as George calls it, from the night before. We had left over pizza for dinner, which is now a tradition.  We did not see the sunset that night, we were asleep long before that.  It was April’s Fools day …..just saying!

sunrise after a long night!

 

April 2, 2013

We weighed anchor early that morning for it was a full day sail to Powell Cay, our next anchorage.  We would have stayed another night at Great Sale anchorage to rest but needed to get through the Whale Pass by Wednesday before the winds picked up again. The seas were calm.  The waters were the beautiful deep aqua color that is so typical of the Bahamas.  George and I both agreed we were glad we came, even knowing the weather was to be that rough. All the rough seas were worth the effort.  We did not see any boats on our way to Powell.  We enjoyed a good meal of Bar B Que chicken on the grill and enjoyed the sunset.

grilling chicken

I thought this was an awesome reminder who is in control!

sunset at Powell

10 feet of water and you can still see the bottom!

Now that is a smooth sea!

Sunrise  at Powell!  Yes we left before first light to get through the Whale

The Whale

April 3, 2013

Today was our final leg of our trip to Marsh Harbour. The seas were as calm as they could be.  It was as if they were saying, ‘OK, you have proved yourself worthy, now enjoy!” Enjoy we did!  We were seeing sail boats all around us, the water was beautiful, the little settlements on the land also had a calming feel, these were all the sights we love about the Bahamas.  The camera just can’t capture all the beauty.

 We got to Mangoes Marina about 2:00. Of course Rey told us it was a starboard tie but as usual, we were going into the slip and it was a port tie.  Being the efficient crew and captain that we are, we had a perfect docking!  We had to wait for immigrations and customs to clear us before we could go anywhere.  The customs officer was a cute young lady named Nicole.  She was a very engaging and friendly.  After we were cleared we were off to Curly Tails, another tradition!  We saw our friend Greta, the waitress who always puts up with our craziness.  She was sad to hear that the rest of the group was not coming this year.  She said she had been thinking it was about time for us to be getting here.  

George and Greta,,...jealous Greg and Jack?

The view from Curly Tails

This one is for you , Charlotte !

Rey called Bill, a friend we made from years past, and handed to phone to George. George asked Bill and Rey over for steak tomorrow night. They accepted. As the song from the Barefoot Man goes, we are here to ”Harbournate” for a while!

Mangoes Marina