Boating Adventures

We’re back in Florida, anchored tonight in Stuart.  Tomorrow we’ll be in Indiantown where we departed five weeks ago. 

To catch up, we spent two more nights on Eleuthera, then from Spanish Wells headed north to the Abacos.  After three nights there we had a weather window and cruised 130 miles to West Palm Beach, arriving at 0200 this morning.  Lots of travelling, but under good conditions. 

It was a great trip.  I’ll write some further thoughts later and publish some of Laura’s photos.  Here are mine, all from Eleuthera. 

We came into Rock Sound this evening.

The last two days have largely been traveling.  Yesterday we came up to Little San Salvador Island and anchored at a cruise ship beach as the passengers were departing.  Today we stopped for lunch at the Barn House Bar and Grill.  Delightful spot.

We’ll be following the shore up to Spanish Wells over the next couple of days, then on the Abacos.  Weather looks good for the hop between.

What a delightful spot. There are about a dozen cruisers anchored here, and all were in for a music party put on by the local business community. Lots of fun.

Tomorrow we meander north.

We’re anchored here.  Nice spot, sheltered from the NE winds that came today with a weak cold front.

We got to Georgetown Saturday, and decided to head over here Sunday after picking up water and stores there.  We reached the tip of the island around dusk and anchored in a mangrove channel last night.  I’ll post some of Laura’s pictures soon.

We’ll spend tomorrow here, then head up the island and on to Eleuthera.  The tentative plan is to head up through the Abacos after that. 

It really is beautiful here. 

Andrew flew out of Staniel Cay this morning.  It was lovely having him join us.  We had some gorgeous weather and scenery, and a great swim in Thunderball Grotto.  Andrew and I were a bit apprehensive, but got in. Last night we enjoyed happy hour rum punch and conch fritters at Staniel Cay Yacht Club.

The remaining three  continue down the chain.  Tonight we’re anchored here, and tomorrow we’ll be in Georgetown.

From there the tentative plan is to head for Cat Cay and Eleuthera.  Playing it by ear and watching the weather.

Laura caught a fish today and cooked it for dinner with fried potatoes, cole slaw, and corn bread.  We’re eating well.  Freezer is still full, and all systems are working.

The only real incident since my last update is that we lost David’s propane grill off the stern when rolling a bit entering an inlet.  There were none to be had in Staniel Cay, but maybe we’ll find one in Georgetown.

We met up with Andrew yesterday without a hitch and got down here before sunset.  Interesting spot.  Today we took Escapade around the island and into a big lagoon.  The water colours are spectacular in places.

Tomorrow we move a bit further down the chain.

Noteworthy was witnessing a SpaceX rocket ascending overhead last night.

We crossed over from Morgan’s Bluff today, and are now anchored here. 

Tomorrow is a reprovisioning day.  Andrew arrives Monday and we then head south to the Exuma chain of islands.

It was nice stopping for a few days.  David and I fixed a few things on the boat, and we had a night barbecue on the beach with other Canadian cruisers.  They’re thick around here. 

A selection from Laura

As planned, we came in here yesterday.  Lovely spot, well protected from the current SE breeze.  There’s a small bar on shore serving cold beer, conch fritters and barracuda steaks.  We’re going to stay put for a while.  The mail boat arrives tomorrow night, which causes a bit of bustle.  Andrew arrives in Nassau early next week, so we’ll head there on the weekend.

My finger is healing well, I think.  Internet via Starlink is working well.  I dropped my phone in the water last night after taking the picture below, but fortunately it backed it up before swimming.  We retrieved it this morning. 

Lots of pics coming soon!

We’re anchored here near the top of the Andros Island chain.  Today we left Gun Cay and came straight across the bank, anchored after dark and had a delicious barbecue chicken dinner.  The moon is out, there are few lights in sight, and the windows are all open.  Life is good.

The water is very clear here, and we’ve been in depths of 10-15 ft all day.  You can watch the bottom go by.  Tomorrow we go to the Tongue of the Ocean where it drops off to very deep water, then back in through the barrier reef to Morgan’s Bluff.