Well, we're up to our old tricks! We refueled and filled the water tanks on our way out of Treasure Cay. Everything was good until we tried to leave the fuel dock which is located in the channel.  There was not much wind, but it picked up enough to push us against the dock, and with a boat behind us, we had a devil of a time getting off the dock. But, we finally made it. That was a bit distracting, so we unintentionally managed to edge our way out of the channel and aground. We weren't sure what to do since there is no TowBoatUS here, but we knew we would have to wait for the tide to come in before we could do much of anything. So we put out a couple of anchors to keep us from being pushed further out. Of course, things got worse before they got better. As the water continued to ebb, we continued to go further and further on our side so everything below promptly slid to starboard, as did we! Maggie was a bit unsettled as well trying to get about at such an angle.

Aground at Treasure Cay

As the other cruisers passed, most hailed us to make sure we were okay, but they couldn't really do anything to help at that point. Later as the tide started to turn, the folks we met on "Sally Rose" came by in their dinghy, and then Jim came back awhile later. He and Tom managed to push and pull (Tom reeling in an anchor as Jim pushed the bow with the dinghy) with Barb at the helm helping with the engine and steering, to free us. By this time (6 hours later) it was getting a little late and we thought about going back into Treasure Cay, but decided to go on out to Water Cay and anchor there. It turned out to be a beautiful night.

Mörsan in Hope Town

Spent 2 nights anchored at Man-O-War Cay and then made our way into Hope Town. The channel into Hope Town is shallow, and we wanted to go in on a rising tide so we waited until about 5:00pm. Not a big deal, but there was a nasty squall with some hefty wind predicted in a couple of days so boats were pouring into the harbors for protection, and there is no anchoring there, only mooring balls. We were able to pick one up, then Truman decided to move us further in because of our size. That night a boat near us broke loose in the storm and got tangled in the mooring lines of the boat behind us.

Tom maneuvering the door at the top of the Lighthouse

Somehow, even sleeping in the cockpit, we missed the excitement. Truman was the hero of the hour and got out there to free the boats. We were happy we didn't get tangled up in that! Hope Town is a great place to spend a few days, so we enjoyed our visit. We walked all over, climbed the lighthouse and hitched a ride with Eric who's dad rents golf carts. He took us to the other end of the island to a great little resort area. Nice place, they even provided transportation back to town...Tonas drove us in the saddest old golf cart we've ever seen. At one point we offered to get out and push so we could get up a hill. Breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled into town!


We've been out and about since then, but we should have wifi for a few days, so I'll continue this update later. Thanks for following along with us!
Happy Sails!

Wind, wind, and more wind! I know, you're thinking..."sailboat, wind is good", right. Well, wind is good for sailing, but not necessarily for wave conditions in the Sea of Abaco, or for anchoring. It's been a breezy week, but we are looking for things to start settling down in the next couple of days, and hopefully have some good island hopping weather for a little stretch. I type these updates when time permits, then post them when we get Internet access, so sometimes things may seem a bit out of sequence. However, since we have almost no concept of time, we really don't care.

Walked down a long stretch of beach on Treasure Cay today. The sand is like powdered sugar and the water is sparkling. This was not a shell-finding beach, but we found a few small shells and many broken sand dollars. Found some tiny, tiny sand dollars whole...never knew they came that small!



I know, how much of this can you take?  Bookoos!

 Folks from our marina in Deltaville on "Moon Splash", Jim and Gretchen, are anchored nearby in Treasure Cay, so we asked them over for cocktails. While we were enjoying the evening, a boat they knew came in and anchored nearby, so we asked them to stop by as well. Jim and Bobbie on "Sally Rose" joined us for awhile. Evenings are peaceful as the sun sets, even when it's windy. When the sun goes down in an anchorage, someone on one of the boats will blow a conch horn, then whoever else out there who has one will answer. There are usually several horns ushering in the sundown.

Ah, life in the islands...how amazing. Everything really does run on island time here. On some islands the bank is only open a couple of days a week so that they can be open a couple of days a week on another island. Many places shut down 2 or 3 hours midday and if you're waiting for a delivery, you are at the mercy of the ever changing flight schedules and ferry delivery. We are currently holding out for a wifi booster which should come in on Thursday, at least that is Jermaine's hope. It should make a big difference in our access from the boat. There was a rumor that Customs was going to go on strike, but it didn't happen. We hear that comes up around election time...just like home! We are trying to take care of a few housekeeping items like laundry and filling the water tanks. We are feeling pretty good about our provisioning at present, but Marsh Harbour has a couple of excellent grocery stores, tho' a little pricey.

Barb sat up on the bow for a bit to take in the view while we were underway a day or two ago. We were in about 15 feet of crystal clear water. There is not a lot of fish activity, but you can see starfish on the bottom, and every rock and clump of sea growth like it's inches away. Of course, everyone talks about the stars or diamonds on the surface with the sun shimmering, but there are sapphires skimming across the tops of the ripples in pulsating shades of blue as well. The colors of the water are so vibrant, the sails and white hulls of boats across the way take on a baby blue hue. When we are finally able to add pictures (the booster should make that doable) they can't possibly do it justice.



Great Guana Cay



This is a shot from our anchorage to Grabbers on the beach. Great Gauana Cay is the home of Nippers. It's very shallow out front, but you can watch the skates swimming right under the dinghy on the way over.

 

Marsh Harbour evening



Marsh Harbour has beautiful sunsets and it can be such a comfortable spot, we can see why some folks spend weeks in the harbour.

Weather concerns are constant companions because different anchorages are protected only from wind coming from certain directions. A few of the main islands have good protection overall, but the wind blows pretty steadily here, sometimes a bit strongly, and so you make your plans with the help of Barometer Bob and the Cruiser's Net. Every morning we get a weather report, information on anything going on in the Marsh Harbour or Hopetown areas, and there is an open forum for questions or requests, like how to locate a doctor, if anyone has a spare bilge pump out there, or that someone found a kayak and is looking for the owner. They also announce or relay any emergency messages to cruisers from back home. Most of the cruisers check in and there is a wealth of information traded and shared. It's pretty cool. For more extensive weather, we try to get Chris Parker on the single sideband. He comes on at 6:30 every morning and some days we get better reception than others. He is definitely the guy to listen to before crossing!

Everyone is very friendly!

We are so grateful to our cruising friends who were persistent in urging us to "Just do it!" some days you almost have to pinch yourself to make sure it's all real! Thanks for traveling with us!

Well, it's not been as easy to update as we had hoped. Wifi does not have a strong signal and we don't have an antenna. But there are bars on every major island and most have wifi available, so we will make hay while the sun shines! We launched into the Gulf Stream last Sunday night, April 1, around 10pm. We arrived in Bahamian waters to a beautiful sunrise Monday morning. It was a little sketchy when we started out and the prospect of ten or more hours of that was less than thrilling. But, as the night wore on, the seas calmed (as predicted) so that we weren't hanging on with each swell, and we settled into a decent crossing. We're learning quickly what we need and don't need, and continuing to learn as we go. We do need an antenna for the single sideband so that we can get good weather reports. We do need a wifi antenna if we want to do any Internet from the boat. Mostly, we needed the anchor windlass (which we had installed shortly before leaving Jax) as Tom's back would not have held up! Took us 5 tries to find a spot with good holding at Green Turtle Cay! Thank goodness friends Rob and Lauren ("Arita"/"Southern Comfort") encouraged that purchase.
The new deck is fantastic! We don't miss the teak in the least. With the sun beating down on the deck all day, the teak would burn your feet, and our new deck is nice and cool.  Not to mention the rain does not drip on Tom's head while he is sleeping anymore...yay!
We have marveled at the color and clarity of the water, wandered through a couple of towns, gone for an evening swim, caught up with friends here, checked in with Customs (Terri was a wealth of information and made checking in a pleasure) and made our first visit to the bank. We didn't take as leisurely a time this first week as we had hoped, but we wanted to get past the Whale (cut out to the ocean and back into the more southern part of Abaco) before the weather turned. We are anchored in Marsh Harbour now probably for a few more days as the front passes. Then we plan to start island hopping in earnest! 
This truly is a paradise and we know how fortunate we are to be living our dream. You may not be aware, but this is something we've hoped to do for many years, and it is exhilarating! There are compromises with everything, like getting up to listen to the weather at 6:30 every morning, and nudging into a crowded anchorage to lay low for a weather day or two, and learning what works and what doesn't, but overall, it's pretty cool!
After nudging into our anchorage here, we determined we were really a little close to the Tianna next to us. Jim confirmed that for us as he graciously (he truly was very gracious) came by in his dinghy to see if we were comfortable with the closeness. So, after Tom fixed the hose leaking into the bilge, we nudged into another spot and we are all more satisfied with the outcome.
We are going to have a few issues posting pictures because we still haven't figured out how to do that on the iPad and we don't really want to carry the laptop to shore. So, we'll keep plugging along and figure it out as we go.
Thanks for traveling with us!

Now we wait, but not for long...

After making our way south and spending several days in Vero Beach (beautiful place), we are now in Lake Worth (West Palm Beach) at anchor to wait for a mild crossing. Vero was a great stop where we met up with friends Connie & John on "Riverdance". They have just returned from the Abacos and shared so much of their Bahamas knowledge. They also shared their transportation with us so we were able to add to our provisions and make a last time West Marine stop. We wish them safe travels as they head north to Delaware.

The many porpoise have been our constant companions and we had our own little Flipper session at one point...

 

 

There have been some beautiful evenings...

And, we're excited about our next experiences!
We'll check back in when we find a wifi spot in the Abacos!

It's all new and fresh again...

...and we're relearning and learning anew!

Day 1: not much practice with the new electric windlass, so anchoring was less than ideal. But, now that we have a better feel for it, we are loving it! Tom's back is particularly fond of it.
Day 2: St. Augustine mooring was great. We had wind one direction and current the other, so it took us awhile to determine the best location for the ball so as not to put too much pressure against the dolphin spike.
Day 3: trying out a new anchorage, recommended by a friend, with a chart showing 14' of water, we discovered what is evidently a shallow spot! We grounded in mud that seemed to suck us down. We ended up calling in the pros (TowBoat US)and proceeded to mystify our rescuer. Took him almost an hour to free us. Turned out to be a lovely spot and we spent a peaceful night and got out without issue. What we did discover is that there is not more than about 8' of water, even at high tide in the best spots.
Days 4 & 5: we have been lazy and relaxed in Titusville. They have a new mooring field here and it was a nice little spot for an extra day. They also have a lot of space for anchoring so we checked that out for next time.

We don't really plan to post day by day, but since each day so far has had its little challenges, we wanted to make note. We're trying to get all the little adjustments out of the way early in the trip. We do plan to post pictures, but we still have to figure that out!

The great thing is that the weather has been amazing, the porpoise are swimming everywhere, seen a couple of manatees and skates, and we are enjoying ourselves. We are looking forward to connecting with friends in a few days a little further south and all is well.

March is our starting frame...

So, February has ended and we are moving into March.  We have a new deck... the teak is gone :-( but so are the leaks :-)  Actually, we really like it... it doesn't burn our feet!  We also have a new electric windlass!  No more back breaking for Tom... it's not easy hauling up 150+ feet of chain and anchor!  Now we're into the home stretch.  Time to take the cat to the vet to get the Bahamas permit signed off.  Time to preregister for US Customs check in for when we return (may not have to make a physical appearance that way, but no guarantees).  Time to get the decal (user tax) for coming and going.  Time to order a few new charts.  Time to check all the safety equipment and make sure we have ways to secure everything inside and out.  Time to provision, provision, provision.  There's a good chance we will take way more than we need, but it is a shakedown cruise after all.  We will be taking the car up to Virginia to sit out cruising time.  All of this should be completed in the next couple of weeks, then we will mosey on down south 'til we reach the West Palm Beach area.  That's where we plan to cross, probably leaving late one night so we arrive in the morning and can see where we're going.  We plan to check in at West End, but none of our plans are written in stone, or even sand at this point.  We'll try to keep current just in case anyone would like to know what we're up to.

Happy Sails, T & B