|
Location
Palm Harbor Marina - West Palm
Beach FL
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Saturday August 04th - NOTE - this is the end of Log D .. to
continue click here for
Log
F
..
|
Location
Palm Harbor Marina - West Palm
Beach FL
Betty's son Danny and family
|
Friday
August 03rd - we will be spending
the day getting a few things done around
DEE LIGHT Betty's Danny and his family
will be stopping by ..
- a Diver came to check out the bottom
of SEA BUFF and I had him remove the
Bathtub Ring around DEE LIGHT .. Bob and
Gayle got a Car for the weekend ( $20.00
per day ) .. Bob and I took a trip to
West Marine for a few supplies and
Betty did some shopping near the Marina
.. in the afternoon Betty'
daughter-in-law Shelly, and part of her
family met up with Betty at the City
Center .. Bob and I found a local
Boat detailer ( Yacht Detail ) to clean
our salt encrusted Boats ..
Gayle and Bob brought the three Girls (
our three Dogs ) to the Beauty Parlor
and did they need it .. well Autumn had
other thoughts .. she gave the personal
at the Beauty Parlor such a piece of her
mind that she came back to DEE LIGHT
just as she left ..
- we had dinner with Betty's son Danny
and his family at ER Bradley's just a
short walk from the Marina ..
|
Travel
West
End to West Palm Beach Florida
Sunrise at West End
US Coast Guard Cutter
US Coast Guard Boarding
Bridge Collapse Minneapolis
|
Thursday August 02nd - once
again we will be trying to do the
Crossing to Florida ..
- when I first got up to check on the
weather their was a light rain shower
moving thru .. we headed out of the
Marina at 06:15 am right into 6 foot
plus Rollers and 3 foot Waves .. we
watched SEA BUFF 'bobbing' for a short
time and decided to head back to the
Marina .. we pulled up to the Fuel
Dock and once it opened up ( after
the sunrise ) we both took on
ballast ( Fuel ) .. neither of us needed
additional Fuel for the Crossing but we
put an additional 100 gallons into each
of our two Forward Fuel Tanks to help
hold the Bow down .. when we were at the
Fuel Dock we talked with another Boater
( TOO BAD SO SAD ) that wanted to make
the Crossing today also .. and they had
8 teenagers aboard .. much like us they
were really checking out the Seas .. we
headed out again at about 08:18 am
into the same Seas .. UFFFDA !! .. it
was bumpy for about 10 miles then the
Rollers settled down and we had a very
comfortable ride until two US Coast
Guard Cutter and it Interceptor Boat
cut us off .. they did not contact us
ahead by Marine Radio they just headed
for our Bow .. they said that they
wanted the element of surprise .. well
they got our attention quickly .. we
slowed down and they said that they were
going to do an At Sea Boarding
since it has been many Months since our
last boarding .. they went thru all of
our paper work and once they were done
they headed to SEA BUFF to do a boarding
with them also .. as I did the paperwork
with two of the Guys Betty had an
interesting conversation with the others
as she took them thru DEE LIGHT ... they
did check all the normal stuff ie
Flares, Fire Extinguishers etc but what
they were really looking for Illegals
and Drugs .. daily they encounter
people being smuggled in via the Bahamas
from Cuba, South America etc .. they
really searched every Storage Area and
even went thru the Engine Room .. the
location of our boarding's was at about
half the distance from the West End to
Lake Worth Inlet .. both Gayle and Betty
said that any of the US Coast Guard
Guys could qualify as their
Poster Guys anytime .. it was about
11:15 am before we were on our way again
.. DEE LIGHT has been boarded at Sea a
number of times but never by a unit as
courteous and professional as this unit
.. after our encounter the Seas were a
lot flatter so we were able to cruise a
little faster ..
- we spent much of the day watching the
TV coverage of the I-35 Bridge
Collapse that took place in
Minneapolis yesterday ( August 01st at
06:09 pm - Rush Hour ) .. I have
traveled over that Bridge countless
times and under the Bridge by Boat a
number of times ..
- as we got closer to Florida we did
have a number of Ships to dodge as we
got closer to the Inlet .. when we were
about 5 miles from the Inlet our Cell
Phones were working for the first time
since we left for the Bahamas .. the
first call that I made was to the US
Customs and Border Protection Office ..
I gave them our Local Boaters Option
Numbers that we got before we headed to
the Bahamas and within 2 minutes we had
cleared Customs .. once we made it
to the ICW we called ahead to the
Flagler Memorial Bridge and set up an
opening for 01:15 pm .. once thru the
Bridge we were within sight of the
Marina and we had both Boats docked by
01:30 pm ..
- after checking in at the Marinas
Office we cleaned up and headed into the
City Center .. we ended up having
dinner at The Cheesecake Factory .. it
was great but no Beans and Rice
on the Menu .. ?? ..
|
Travel
Lucaya
to West End
Wave Heights - 'click' for
larger
Pool - West End
Mega Yacht - West End
|
Wednesday August 01st - we will
be doing the Crossing back to Florida ..
( we got part way ) ..
- based on the weather forecast we
changed our plans and decided to head
out for Florida today ..
- after checking the weather forecast
for today we headed out of the Marina at
06:15 am .. we headed out to Mixed Seas
of about 3 plus feet .. the light wind
and the 'wraparound' Seas from the
Florida Straights were both coming from
the South-Southwest .. after about only
30 to 40 minutes we sensed a Fuel Filter
problem with our Starboard Engine .. I
called SEA BUFF and told them that we
were going to head to West End to change
out our Fuel Filters etc .. we slowed
down to about 12 knots and made our way
up the Shoreline .. when we were within
sight of the Marinas Outer Markers we
saw a Sport Fishing Boat that had just
left West End and had caught on fire ..
they quickly dropped their anchor and a
Tender was picking them up as we went by
.. I had called ahead to West End when
we first noted our problem and it was a
good thing as when we got there they
were all but full and other Boats were
calling for dockage also .. we were both
docked by 09:00 am ..
- once we got settled in I headed to the
Engine Room .. I replaced the Racor
Fuel Filters and I also cleaned out
the Racor Units .. some time ago I had
given some Filters to one of our other
RPYC Boaters so today I used my last set
of Racor Filters .. I also changed the
Final Fuel Filters .. I got done
about 02:00 pm ..
- after Betty got us checked in at the
Marina Office she tried to take a Bus
into Freeport for the day but the
schedule times for today were changed so
she ended up at the Pool .. I joined her
at the Pool and Bob and Gayle also made
it to the Pool for part of the afternoon
..
- the four of us had dinner at the
Marinas Restaurant and hit the sack
early so we will be ready again in the
morning ..
|
Location
Grand
Bahamas Yacht Club - Lucaya
Grand Lucaya Waterway
Grand Lucaya Waterway
Grand Lucaya Waterway
|
Tuesday July 31st -
weather permitting we will be exploring
the Grand Lucaya Waterway by
Dinghy ..
- we are again watching the Buoy
Weather for our upcoming crossing
back to Florida .. I have updated our
old Bimini Buoy (
Bimini Buoy
) and added a new Virtual Buoy about
half way between West End and West Palm
(
West Palm Buoy
) .. I will update these two links until
we make our crossing .. it appears that
the weather ( Storm Cell ) in the Gulf
is affecting our Seas ..below is the 'Key'
for the Wave Heights Chart to the
left ..
- at
09:00 one of the Guys from the Marina
cleaned DEE LIGHT and SEA BUFF as they
both needed it
-
about
10:00 we took the two Dinghies and
headed to the Grand Lucaya Waterway
.. we had a ROUGH 11 mile Dinghy Cruise
( 2 to 2 1/2 footers ) to the
Waterways Inlet but when we did make it
the Waterway was all but flat .. we
scooted right up the Waterway to the
North end .. we checked the depth at the
critical area and found that we had
about 5.2 feet of water when the Tide
was down about 1 foot .. thus DEE LIGHT
with a 5 foot draft would really have to
do it at High Tide only .. the Upper
Inlet was very well marked .. all of the
Pylons seam to be new .. we took our
time heading back down the Waterway ..
most of the Shore Line looks much like
Cape Coral would after a direct
Nuclear Attract ,, once we got
to open waters again it was VERY
ROUGH ( 2 to 3 footers ) as we were
heading right into the wind .. about
half way back there is a short section
of Bahamas ICW that we took for
the last few miles of our Dinghy Cruise
.. once back we hoisted our Tenders back
onto our Boats and cleaned up as we were
all 'salt encrusted' ..
- when
we got back we looked at the weather
once again and decided that it would be
best to head out early in the morning
instead of later in the week .. SEA BUFF
had to fuel up before heading out so
when they got their Dinghy back onboard
they headed to the Fuel Dock .. the cost
of Diesel Fuel is $3.73 and that is one
of the lowest prices that we have seen
in some time .. Gayle made reservations
for us at the Palm Harbor Marina and
found that the Fuel cost there is $3.15
..
- we
turned in our Bahamas Immigration
Forms at the Marina Office ..
- after
SEA BUFF got re-docked and cleaned up a
little we all took the Marinas Water
Ferry to the Downtown Dock for dinner ..
we ended up having an elegant last
Bahamas dinner at Lucianos Restaurant ..
when we returned to the Boats the 'Girl'
decided that they would like to do one
last Bahamas Slumber Party so they all
spent the night aboard SEA BUFF ..
|
Travel
West
End
to Lucaya
Freeport Tide Chart
'click' on it for larger size
Mega Yachts at West End
Port of Lucaya Lighthouse
|
Monday July 30th - we will be
cruising from the West End to Grand
Bahamas Yacht Club at Lucaya ..
- the Tide Table to the left is the one
that we were going to use for our
passage thru the Great Lacayan
Waterway to Lucaya .. that will be
an experience that we will have to save
for another trip ..
- before heading out for Lucaya we
filled our Water Tanks with Lucaya water
as it is a flat rate for water at the
Old Bahama Marina .. Bob, Gayle and I
had breakfast at the Marinas Restaurant
directly behind our Slips before we
headed out ..
- we left West End at about 10:15 am ..
we had Mixed Seas all the way to
Lucaya with 2 foot Seas from one
direction and 2 to 3 foot Rollers from
another direction .. there were a number
of large Freighters hanging around the
Freeport area and at least two large
Cruise Ships in the Freeport
Harbour .. and we passed a Tugboat
pulling a cargo of rock .. as we were
approaching the Lucaya area there was a
lot of water activity going on and out
of the blue a Tender came racing out in
front of us .. he slowed down and waved
his arms .. we cut our Throttles and
when we looked ahead to where the Tender
was there were 5 or 6 people
Snorkeling dead in front of us ..
how they got there is still a question
.. I tried to contact the Tender by
Marine Radio but was not successful at
all .. that could have been really ugly
.. by 12:45 pm both SEA BUFF and DEE
LIGHT were once again safely secured to
the Dock and just in time as an early
afternoon Thunderhead moved right in to
clean the salt off our Boats .. and
Autumn got another Bahamas bath also ..
- at 03:30 pm we took the Marinas Water
Taxi into Lucaya .. we just walked
around, did some shopping, checked out
to Beach and Pools, walked the Docks at
the other Marinas and ended up having
Bar Food at Rum Runners where we
spotted a Green Bay Packer 'Titletown
USA' Pennant and a Indianapolis
Colts Car Flag .. .. and yes we did make
two trips to Andy's Ice Cream Parlor
.. Lucaya is very much a 'Play Grounds'
for Cruise Ships and vacationers ..
|
Travel
Spanish Cay to
Mangrove Cay to West End
Center of the World Rock
at West End
Dinner Aboard DEE LIGHT
|
Sunday July 29th - we will be
cruising from Spanish Cay to an
Anchorage at Mangrove Cay ..
- at 05:00 am I could hear a
Thunderstorm rumbling its way thru and
so could Autumn .. she does not like
Thunder or Lightning at all ..
- after checking out at the Marina
Office and taking the Girls to Shore one
last time we ( DEE LIGHT ) left the Slip
at 08:45 am .. just as we were pulling
out Betty heard a loud scream from the
Boat next to us in the Marina .. their
90 pound Dog fell in .. Gayle and Bob
helped the owner of the Dog get to Dog
out of the water before they headed out
.. UFFFDA !! what a start to the day ..
on our way we passed a 'rock' called the
Center of the World Rock .. we
got into a lot of weather in route to
Mangrove Cay .. Bob called three Boaters
that we met .. they said that our
weather ahead was very rough ..
waterspouts etc .. we watched the
weather on our Radar and got any salt
off the Boats a number of times .. once
we made it to Mangrove Cay the weather
was looking as bad as it had all day ..
our winds were from every direction but
up .. and our Seas were from 1 to 3 feet
.. after taking a good look at our wide
open Anchorage we decided to head to
West End so off we went .. I put a Route
into my Computer as we traveled along
and conveyed what information I could to
SEA BUFF .. when we were within Marine
Radio range I called ahead and arranged
for dockage for the two of us ..
- we were docked at the Old Bahama Bay
Marina by 03:30 pm right in front of the
Marinas Restaurant .. we were
disappointed as we were looking forward
to spending the night on the Hook and
going thru the Great Lacayan Waterway
to Lucaya but looking back we feel that
we made the right decision ..
- when we docked the Boats the Harbour
Master told us that the Pool was closed
but Betty and I took a walk to the Pool
Bar we found that it had just reopened
.. on our way to the Pool we spotted a
Boat at the end of our Dock from White
Bear Lake Minnesota .. once at the Pool
/ Beach Bar we had a drink and enjoyed
the viewssss .. - we were going to be at
Mangrove Cay we were going to have
Bahamas Fish that Gayle got when we
were back at Abaco Boat Harbour at Marsh
Harbour but instead we had our
Bahamas Fish aboard DEE LIGHT at
West End .. and what a deelightful
dinner it was ..
|
Travel
Green Turtle Bay to Spanish Cay
heading to Spanish Cay
Gayle cleaning Sea Treasures
Spanish Cay Sunset
|
Saturday July 28th - we will be
cruising from the Green Turtle Club to
Spanish Cay ..
- last night we had a good Thunderstorm
but by morning we got up to overcast
skies and a very light rain .. before we
headed out SEA BUFF relocated to the
Fuel Dock and we hoisted our Dinghy
aboard DEE LIGHT .. the Fuel Dock did
not wake up until 08:00 am ..
- with the sun shining we headed out of
the Marina for Spanish Cay at about
09:00 am .. we had dead flat Seas for
our short 18 mile cruise .. as we were
docking the Staff at the Marina Office
thought that our faded Green Bay
Packer Flag was our Bahamas Customs
Flag and thought that we were going to
have to go to the Customs Office .. once
Betty told them that it was a Packer
Flag we were welcomed with open arm ..
Spanish Cay is a Port of Entree for the
Bahamas .. we were both docked by 10:30
am and right away both Betty and Gayle
got busy with cleaning their Sea
Treasures and I spent some time
putting together our Routes for the next
two days ....
- Betty went to the Marinas Pool
and I spent some time talking with
locals about the Great Lacayan
Waterway .. the only 'local
knowledge' that I picked up was about
the Tides in the Dover Sound area .. I
joined Betty at the Pool and soon Gayle
and Bob came to the Pool to cool off ..
later Betty and I walked the Beach
looking for Sea Treasures but we
returned empty handed ..
- the WI-FI System in the Marina was hit
by lightning about a week ago so when I
was at the Marina Office they let me use
their connection ..
- we all had dinner at the Marinas
Restaurant .. dinner and the sunset were
GREAT .. and the Rum Cake was something
else .. WOW !!!! what a punch !! ..
|
Location
Green Turtle Bay Club
Sea Treasures
lunch on the Beach
Mother Nature
Royal Palm Yacht Club Burgee
|
Friday July 27th - the weather
today is to be just like yesterday ,,
GREAT .. so we will be off with the
Tenders again exploring more of the area
..
- before we headed out for the day I
went into the Marina and found a Boat
Captain that has traveled thru the
Great Lacayan Waterway .. he said
that the upper entrance of the Waterway
has been remarked and he gave me a
number of pointers on how to approach
the shallow area at that end .. very
helpful !! ..
- we headed out with our two Tenders and
with a little hunting we found one of
the Mooring Balls off the Island
of Manjack Cay .. Gayle and Bob
dove right in and gave it a HIGH
rating .. with much prodding Betty
joined them and I remained on the Tender
nursing my Ear .. UGH !! .. they
snorkeled the Reef until they all were
exhausted .. from there we tried to find
another Ball only to find a Dive Boat
was at it .. we went around the Island
to the inside and found one of the Beach
areas that we were at yesterday .. the
Tide was way out so we had a lot of new
area to explore .. we ended up with more
Sea Biscuits and Conch than
the Tenders would hold .. about mid day
we found a small Beach area and had our
lunch on the Beach .. after lunch Bob
and I pulled the Tenders in the water
with Gayle and Betty on lines behind the
Tenders .. ie they were surfing the net
.. we found more Conch and came across
the Dive Boat that we saw earlier
.. when the Gals were surfing Gayle got
STUNG by a Sea Creature that looked much
like a very small Octopus .. it was
hiding in a Conch shells that she had
picked up to look at .. she got in the
Dinghy real quick and checked out the
bite and appears to be ok .. we also had
a small Shark that swam by us most of
the time that we were at the Beach .. it
stayed about 20 to 30 feet from us ..
later we did head out to one of the
other Mooring Balls but on our way
decided we had enough water for the day
and headed back to the Marina slowly as
our ballast of Sea Treasures kept our
speed down ..
- we decided to have dinner at the
Marinas Dining Room so I got a copy of
the Menu and we all made our dinner
selections .. all dinner selections have
to be into the Chef by 05:00 pm ..
before our dinner we had a drink in the
Green Turtle Bar .. the Bar ceiling is
lined with Burgees from all over the
world and sure enough we spotted a
Royal Palm Yacht Club Burgee hanging
overhead .. at dinner Gayle said that
her arm still hurt from her Sea Creature
sting but that she should be ok .. our
dinners were so - so but it was a great
evening ..
- after dinner we spent some time
getting our Waypoints and Route set for
tomorrow ..
|
Location
Green Turtle Bay Club
New Plymouth
Sea Biscuits
|
Thursday July 26th
- once we got organized the four of us
took our Dinghy into New Plymouth .. the
settlement of New Plymouth is
located just a few miles Southeast of
the Marina .. the Supply Ship arrived at
the Main Pier just before we got to the
Dinghy Dock .. we walked the Streets and
found many Shops buzzing with the fresh
supply of product .. we even found fresh
made Ice Cream in one of the Shops ..
after exploring the main Downtown area
we took the Dinghy a short distance to a
Packer Bar called Pineapples
where we had lunch .. once back to the
Boats we waited for a bit so the HOT
part of the day would pass ..
- Bob and Gayle said that they wanted to
get a few things done around SEA BUFF ..
so about 03:15 pm Betty and I headed out
in LIL DEE LIGHT for the Beaches again
to do some shelling .. the breeze was
down to almost 0 and the with the
afternoon Sun it was a great afternoon
.. we went to a Beach on a small Island
between two Inlets that we explored when
we were here in 2005 and did we find the
Sea Biscuits ( the photo was
taken as they look before Betty cleans
them up ) .. it was hard to call it a
day and head back to DEE LIGHT but by
06:30 we were back with our Tender
loaded up once again ..
- the Green Turtle area has been without
Gasoline for the last number of days but
that changed this evening when the Fuel
Tanker pulled up to the Fuel Dock .. it
was interesting to watch them maneuver
.. they ended up spending the night at
the Marina ..
- later
we had dinner aboard DEE LIGHT and
watched the
Garrison Keillor
DVD that Gayle and Bob recorded a few
days ago ..
|
Travel
Great Guana Cay to Green Turtle
Bay
Green Turtle Club
Manjack Cay
|
Wednesday July 25th
- we will be cruising from Guana to
Green Turtle
Bay ..
- we checked out of the Marina and
headed out at 08:30 am .. we had a SE
breeze of 6 knots so we had a near flat
Sea .. we made it thru the dreaded
Whales Cay without any problems at all
.. just some rollers of about 2 foot ..
this is the Cut that Gene and Kathy (
FRONT PAGE ) had a rough passage a
few years ago .. as an example of how
calm the ride thru Whales Cay was Betty
rode the Bow for most of the trip and
Gayle had forgotten some Seashells
on the corner of their Swim Platform and
they were still there when we docked the
Boats .. we were tied off at the
Green Turtle Bay Club
Marina by 10:15 am .. we launched
our Tender before we even checked into
the Marina Office ..
- by 11:30 am we were heading out of the
Marina to do some snorkeling and
shelling .. we went Northwest about four
miles to Manjack Cay and within
minutes all four of us found our first
Sea Biscuits .. from Manjack Cay we went
to Coconut Tree Beach and then to
Nunjack Bluff etc .. we all had a
great afternoon and returned to the
Boats with our Tenders filled with Sea
Treasures ..
- after cleaning up we took LITTLE DEE
to the Bluff House Marina for dinner ..
we sat at the Jolly Rogers outside bar
that overlooks their Marina and the
Green Turtle Bay Harbour .. there are
just a few Boats at the Green Turtle
Club as well at the Bluff House .. there
are a few families that are traveling
together but most must have headed back
to the states for the start of School ..
it was a delightful evening ..
|
Location
Great Guana Cay
Gated Beach Area
|
Tuesday July 24th
- weather permitting we will be
exploring
Gated Beach area
..
- we took the Golf Cart to the Gated
area and found our snorkeling spot ..
Bob went out a little farther than the
rest of us and he saw a large Stingray
and a lot of quality Coral .. after just
a short time in the water my ear started
started pounding again .. I am guessing
that my snorkeling for this trip may be
over .. UGH !! .. from there we went
back to the Marina and took our Tenders
out towards the Mooring Balls that we
discovered a few day ago .. when the
Thunderstorms started to head our way we
turned back .. when we made it back to
the Marina we fueled up both Dinghies ..
we got any salt off our Boats as the
Thunderstorms lasted right into the
afternoon .. Betty got some laundry done
and I tried to get online but the
Thunderstorms must have caused the WI-FI
in the Marina to go down .. the four of
us went back to the Restaurant at the
Marina for dinner .. and it was just as
good as the first time ..
|
Location
Great Guana Cay
Orchid Bay
PASSION
|
Monday
July 23rd
- weather permitting we will be
exploring
Great Guana Cay
..
- many of the Boaters that were at
Nipper's yesterday spent the night at
the Marina and headed out this morning
.. PASSION pulled out of the
Marina at about 10:00 am .. Betty took
an early morning walk and got a 'tip' on
a good snorkeling and shelling Beach ..
when Betty returned to DEE LIGHT we all
packed up and headed out to the Beach
that Betty got the hot tip on .. well it
was a bummer .. no Sea Treasures at all
and it was no good for snorkeling at all
.. we then drove to the end of Guana Cay
where Backer Bay is being developed and
found a couple of Beaches there .. but
again they were no good either .. we
checked out a couple of more Beaches on
the way back to the Boats but ended up
in a dry run .. we then headed to
Nipper's for lunch and to complete our
Nipper's shopping .. Gayle and Bob were
the 'shopping winners' as they did real
good in the buying department ..
- I used our Water Maker right in the
Marina as the water in the Marina is
crystal clear ..
- when we returned to the Marina I was
able to get a Pass to go into the Gated
part of the Island .. when we were here
two years ago we found a great
snorkeling area in the Gated area .. we
headed out with the Golf Cart and headed
into the Gated area .. on the unpaved
Roads we saw hundreds of small / baby
Crabs .. we were able to find the same
Beach area and it was as beautiful as we
remembered it .. when we got back Betty
worked on her prize Conch Shell and I
struggled with trying to get online as
this Marina does not have a good WI-FI
system .. later we had dinner aboard our
Boats ..
|
Location
Great Guana Cay
Jon and Marv
|
Sunday July 22nd
- we will be going to Nipper's
for their Sunday Pig Roast
..
- I got up to an early morning
Thunderstorm that moved thru the area it
put Autumn at high alert but it was very
short lived .. we rented a Golf Cart and
headed to Nipper's (
http://www.nippersbar.com/ )
to check out a good spot for later today
.. Nipper's
is
Perched high upon a forty-foot dune ..
Nippers overlooks the Great Abaco
Barrier Reef .. a great place for
snorkeling ..
- when we were off with the Cart Jon and
PASSION made it to the Marina ..
- by 11:00 am all of us were at
Nipper's
for their Sunday Pig Roast and we
all had a great time .. we filled our
tummies and from our perch our eyes had
a smorgasbord .. and we tried to
buy out the Gift Shop until we saw a
large Freighter delivering more T-shirts
.. Thunderstorms developed all around us
so when we thought that there was no way
of escaping a good storm we headed back
to the Boats .. we got a lot of
lighting, thunder, winds etc but little
rain .. Autumn was happy to see us as
she does NOT like thunder at all .. we
did have enough wind to have a
'rental' Catamaran come louse from
its Mooring Ball and slam into the end
of the Marinas Dock causing a
Pylon to break off while the renters
were at Nipper's .. I can only imagine
what they thought when they returned
their Catamaran .. the Catamaran was
rented from The Moorings at Marsh
Harbour .. they are located at the Conch
Inn Marina at Marsh Harbour .. after
taking a ride on the Golf Cart only to
get rained on we had dinner aboard DEE
LIGHT .. once the rain set in it lasted
into the night .. we cannot complain as
this is the first rainy weather that we
have had in many weeks ..
|
Travel
Treasure Cay to
Great Guana Cay
SEA BUFF and DEE LIGHT
at Orchid Bay
Backer Bay Development
Sea Treasure
Orchid Bay
|
Saturday July 21st
- we will be cruising from Treasure Cay
to
..
- after checking out at both the Marina
Office and the Hotel Office we left the
Marina at 09:00 am .. we experienced
about 6 inch Seas all the way .. we were
both tied off at Orchid Bay by 10:15 am
and had the Dinghy in the water within
minutes .. after checking in at the
Harbormasters Office we took off with
both of our Tenders .. we first went to
a Beach near the Bakers Cay
Development a few miles West of the
Marina .. we had been here in 2005 so I
was curious to see what has been done in
the last two years .. well I took a walk
once we made it to the Beach and found
that very little has been done except
the development of a new Marina .. the
Marina had not even been started in 2005
and now they have the entire basin cut
out .. I talked with two Guys with Baker
Bay shirts on .. they said that they
were busy working on the infrastructure
.. that is just what I heard two years
ago .. the other three were bust looking
for Sea Treasures but there was little
to find at all in this area as the
development work has redefined the Beach
with Bulldozers that destroyed most
everything in their paths .. from there
we checked out a nearby Island called
Shell Island but there were few
Treasures there also .. the Island was
created when the Disney Development
first started their work in this area
and created the DEEP Ditch for their
Cruise Ships.. later we headed around to
the North side of the Island where we
found some Diving Mooring Balls .. the
waters and Sea Deelights were a real
treat .. we will be returning to this
area again .. by then we ( me ) had
enough sun so we headed back to the
Marina .. when we first arrived at the
Marina this morning there were only a
few Boats at the Marina but it sure
filled up when were gone out on the
Dinghies ..
- on our way down the Dock we talked
with a Boater from Stuart Florida about
his experience going thru the Great
Lacayan Waterway .. he told us about
how he RIPPED up one of his Props .. UGH
!! .. we had dinner at the Marinas
Restaurant and was it great .. when we
walked in they asked if we had a
reservation and we did not so we almost
went back without dinner but then one of
the Waiters found a table for us .. a
storm moved thru the area but we hardly
got a drop at all out of it ..
Weather - this has been our
typical weather for the last few weeks
..
 |
Saturday
Scattered Clouds. High: 86° F. / 30°
C. Wind SSW 6 mph. / 10 km/h. |
|
Location
Treasure Cay Marina
Treasure Cay Marina
Betty in Pool
|
Friday July 20th
- we will be enjoying the day at
Treasure Cay ..
- we took a long Bike ride that ended up
at the Spinnaker Room for
breakfast .. over my Omelet we talked
with three gals from Nassau .. they told
us about the heritage behind the
Junkanoo .. the big Junkanoo
celebrations are at Christmas time and
then again at the Bahamian Independence
Day .. Gayle made it to the Bakery and
she shared the Cinnamon Rolls that she
found there .. YUMMMM !! .. we did some
Route Planning .. Betty and Gayle did
some shopping at a Treasure Cay Shop
with 75 percent off .. after lunch we
took an emergency trip to the local
Treasure Cay Grocery Store for Ice
Cream .. Betty and Gayle had checked
it out and found that it is a well
stocked Store .. we had a most
successful trip as we returned with
three large containers of Ice Cream ..
- there will be Powerboat Races
here tomorrow so today many of the
entries were testing out their Boats ..
- we spent the afternoon at the Pool ..
one of the Boaters at the Pool is with a
group of Boaters from Stuart Florida ..
they are going to
and Nipper's tomorrow also .. they said
that two of the Boaters that are part of
their group have boated thru the
Great Lacayan Waterway .. we are
trying to get additional information on
the Waterway so we will defiantly be
talking with them ..
- we
had dinner at the Spinnaker Room
that is part of Treasure Cay ..
|
Travel
Marsh Harbour to Treasure Cay
Jon with Autumn
Treasure Cay Beach
|
Thursday
July 19th
- we will be traveling to the Treasure
Cay Marina for two nights ..
- Jon stopped over before we
headed out .. Autumn sure enjoyed seeing
him again ..
- after checking out we left the Marina
at 09:00 am .. we had an uneventful
cruise to Treasure Cay Marina .. we were
all tied off by 10:45 am and had six
local young Boys asking if we wanted to
have our Boat cleaned .. we checked in
at the Marina Office and put together
our Bikes and headed to the Beach .. the
Beach at Treasure Cay is a powder white
sand that is just beautiful .. they have
Canopies and Beach Chairs etc .. a real
playground for all ages ..
- when we got to the Beach we had a
quick lunch at the Coco Beach Bar and
from there went directly to the Beach
for the afternoon .. after time in the
water and on Beach Chairs we headed back
to the Boats .. on our way back we
stopped at the local Ice Cream Parlor (
right next to the Bakery ) only to find
out that their Ice Cream Coolers has
gone bad and they were not selling any
Ice Cream at all .. good thing that we
still have a good stock on the Boat ..
- after cleaning up we went to the Pool
Bar where they were serving Pizza for
dinner so we had Pizza at the Bar ..
there are many families with many
smaller children thus the Pizza was a
big hit ..
|
Location
Abaco Boat Harbour
Marsh Harbour
Bahamas Art
Gayle and Bob after her swim
|
Wednesday July 18th
- this will be our last day at the
Abaco Boat Harbour ..
- I have had a Sump Pump for our main
Shower that has needed some attention so
today was the day .. I was able to do a
temporary repair but I will have to
replace it when we get back to Fort
Myers .. I spent part of the day setting
up Routes for our next days of travel ..
Bob was able to get a local Electrician
to replace an Electrical Breaker that
has been failing .. most likely due to
the irregular power that we have been
hooking up to the last number of weeks
..
- just before we were going to head out
for the Jib Room for their Ribs I
heard Gayle's voice .. I could not tell
what she said but when I went to check
it out I saw her and Roxie in the
water behind their Boat ..
apparently Roxie fell in between the
Boat and the Dock when Gayle was taking
the Girls up for a trip to Shore before
we headed out .. when Gayle got on the
Swim Platform to retrieve Roxie who was
swimming away from the Boat Gayle's foot
tripped on one of their Dock Lines
causing her to fall in .. UUUFFDAAA
!! .. when she fell in her foot got hung
up in the Dock Line and she ended up
hanging upside down in the water under
the Swim Platform .. once she was able
to free herself she swam to Roxie who
crawled up on her back for the ride back
to the Boat .. Bob and I were able to
help her and Roxie out of the water ..
with all her close and shoes on she was
totally done in but once Gayle got out
of the water she headed to the shower ..
and in no time all of us were off to the
Jib Room for a great evening ..
|
Location
Abaco Boat Harbour
Marsh Harbour
Albury Brothers Boats
Man-O-War
PASSION
|
Tuesday July 17th
- we will be taking the Water Ferry to
the Island of Man-O-War Cay ..my
son Jon will be coming to the Marina ..
- after spending a few nights here at
the Marina 18 Grady-White Boats that
have been doing the Abacos together
headed out of the Marina this morning ..
12 are heading back to Vero Beach
Florida and the other 6 are going to
head to the Exumas .. it was interesting
to listen to them as they headed out ..
they even had a 'roll call' .. I can
only image the logistic problems ..
- at about 08:15 am every morning there
are Weather Announcements ( Patty -
Abaco Cruisers Net -
http://oii.net/boats/news.html
) on Channel 68 ..
Barometer
Bob
(
http://www.barometerbob.com/
) is another super Weather Website ..
- at 10:00 am we took our Bikes to the
Albury's Ferry Dock and took the
10:30 am Ferry to Man-O-War Cay
for the day .. we checked out all the
Shops and made a number of purchase ..
and even had Ice Cream at one of the
local Shops .. Man-O-War is the home for
the
Albury Brothers Boats .. they have
been producing Boats for three or four
generations on the Cay .. I took some
'flower' photos when we were here before
and after much walking in the HEAT
I found the same spot and took a number
of shots .. when we returned on the
Albury's Ferry we took our Bikes to a
'local' Restaurant and had lunch on our
way back to the Marina .. shortly after
we got back to DEE LIGHT Jon
called me on the Marine Radio and said
that they ( PASSION - 80 foot
Lazzara
) were a few miles out and would be
at the Marina shortly .. I walked over
to the Fuel Dock and helped them with
the lines .. after they took on Fuel
they docked PASSION on the 100 Dock ..
later we enjoyed a great dinner with Jon
in the Marinas Main Dining Room (
Angler's Restaurant ) at the Marina ..
they (
PASSION ) plan to be here at the Marina
until Sunday when they will be heading
to the Orchid Bay Yacht Club and
Marina so they can go to Nippers
for their Sunday Buffet .. small world
as we are going to be there also after
going to Treasure Cay ..
|
Location
Abaco Boat Harbour
Marsh Harbour
Bahaman Artwork
Gayle and Bob
|
Monday July 16th
- we will be spending the day getting
some 'stuff' done in Marsh Harbour ..
- the Boat ( SATISFACTION - 65 foot )
that has been docked next to SEA BUFF is
from Jupiter Florida .. the owner Frank
and his daughter have been here for a
few weeks .. his Captain and Mate
arrived yesterday so this morning they
pulled out of the Marina at about 06:30
am ..
- I
have been having an Ear problem that has
been nagging away since last week so
this morning I checked at the Marina
Office for a Clinic .. they suggested a
Doctor Hull at the Marsh Harbour
Medical Center .. so we headed out
to his office .. since I was a walk-in
it took all morning but hopefully it
will be time well spent .. the issue
appears to be caused by a lack of fluids
and the hot weather .. the Doctor gave
me some medication and I was out the
door just before noon .. Bob did not
fare as well with his contacts ..he
tried to get someone to look at hid
Tender and wanted to get some help with
his Radar but in both cases the
Mechanics that he tried to contact ere
on 'Bahamas Time' and would not be able
to get to him for days or ??? .. after
my trip to the Doctors Office I spent
most of the afternoon resting .. that
medication really did me in .. but
before dinner we made it to the Pool Bar
with Gayle and Bob where we heard all
about the shopping that Gayle and Betty
had done all afternoon ..
- when
we first made it here I sent Sheila (
Legacy Harbour Marina ) an E-mail to
FedEx
my mail to me .. well today a large box
was delivered right to DEE LIGHT .. it
will keep me busy tonight ..
|
Location
Abaco Boat Harbour
Marsh Harbour
Betty at Pool Bar
|
Sunday
July 15th
- we will be spending the day enjoying
the Marina and doing Boat stuff ..
- I spent the morning getting the salt
off DEE LIGHT and with the
East-Southeast winds so strong I hosed
off SEA BUFF at the same time .. Betty
spent the morning getting caught up on
her E-mail .. Gayle and Bob did the same
'stuff' ..
- we had lunch at the Pool Bar and there
was hardly anyone there .. the Marina is
part of a Resort so it could be that
this is the time of the week when people
are coming and going ..
- in the afternoon it was time to change
out our Fuel Filters and clean our
Strainers .. the Engine Room was HOT but
I got the job done ..
- an afternoon thunderstorm moved thru
the area ( we never got a drop ) and
once it passed we headed out on our
Bikes .. after exploring around and
checking out a few places we ended up
having dinner at the Conch Inn Upper Bar
.. they have had a Tiki type Bar on
grade that has always been very popular
with the Boaters in the Marina as well
as locals .. well it is gone and has
been replaced with a Bar above their
Main Dining Room ..
|
Location
Abaco Boat Harbour
Marsh Harbour
Hope Town Lighthouse
Limbo at Jib Room
|
Saturday
July 14th
- we will be heading to Hope Town
by Water Ferry for the day ..
- we took our Bikes to the Albury's
Ferry Dock and then took the 10:30
am Ferry to Hope Town .. when we made it
to Hope Town we got a Golf Cart and
headed out to explore .. we drove to the
Sea Spray Marina where we had a drink at
their Marina Bar .. we then drove to the
South most end of the Island to Tabiti
Beach .. Hope Town is known for its red
and white Lighthouse and I took many
photos of it .. when we made it back to
Hope Town we had a late lunch at the
Hope Town Harbour Pool Bar that
overlooks the Atlantic Ocean .. the four
Bikini clad Gals and a Jack Russell Dog
that were at the table next to us were
also off of a Boat at our Marina .. they
are from Miami and are here for a Gals
only outing .. when we took Albury's
Ferry back to the Marina we just had
to check out their Boat .. it is about a
70 footer by Monte Crisco .. I have
never heard of it ..
- for dinner we took a Taxi to the Jib
Room that is located on the North side
of the Marsh Harbour Bay .. Saturday
night is Steak Night and they serve an
outstanding Strip Steak .. other choices
are Fish or Chicken .. we were the first
people there so we had our choice of
tables .. the Bartender said that they
have had a real busy season but since
July 10th there business will slow down
until about mid October .. we had a
great evening and we all enjoyed the
Limbo but non of us participated ..
|
Travel
Harbour Island Eleuthera
to Marsh Harbour Abacos
Abaco Boat Harbour Marina
Marsh Harbour
SEA BUFF and DEE LIGHT
|
Friday July 13th
- we will be traveling from Harbour
Island, Eleuthera to the Abaco Beach
Resort and Marina in Marsh Harbour,
Abacos ..
- at 06:30 am Ole Pot ( Vivian ) made it
to the Marina and at about 07:00 am we
headed out .. yesterday Ole Pot's
brother ( A-1 ) was at the Marina and
when we were talking with him he shared
with us that Ole Pot's name is Vivian
so we just had to rib him about it ..
once we were past the Coral Heads (
07:35 am ) Ole Pot got in his Tender and
headed off to his next Boat and we
headed right into 3 footers that soon
grew to 4 to 6 footers ( Rollers from
our Starboard Side ) .. we rocked and
rolled all the way to our Inlet Waypoint
.. once inside the Sound the Seas were
all but calm ( 1 to 2 footers ) but
'skinny' waters as it was LOW Tide .. we
made our way to the Marina were both
tied off at the Abaco Boat Harbour
Marina by 01:00 pm ..
- the only Friday the 13th incident that
we have had is that Bob stubbed his Toe
when he was in pursuit Gayle chasing her
thru their Boat Cabin ..
- I tried to get a rental Golf Cart but
they come out of Treasure Cay and I
could not get one until Saturday so I
put one of our Bikes together and Betty
headed off to buy Charcoal for the
Marinas Charcoal Grill ..
- we must be getting closer to home as
we are able to get all the local Fort
Myers TV Stations via our Direct TV
System .. this is a first since we left
Nassau ..
- we grilled Chicken Breasts at one of
the many Marinas Charcoal Grills and had
dinner under one of the Marinas Tiki
Huts .. it was interesting to watch the
activity in the Marina as many Boats
were coming in from spending a day on
the waters fishing ..
|
Location
Valentines Marina
Harbour Island, Eleuthera
Dee Sea Diving
Dee Sea Diving
Dinner at Runaway Hill Inn
|
Thursday
July 12th ( Autumn's Birthday )
- Bob and Gayle will be doing a Deep
Sea Dive with a group from the Marina ..
- Betty took of for the
Harbor Islands Community Center
to get her blood tested and then did
some shopping .. Gayle and Bob headed
out on their Deep Sea Diving trip
.. I filled our Water Tank with water
and started to get DEE LIGHT ready for
leaving in the morning ..
- Betty and I ended up having lunch at
the Sip Sip that overlooks the
Pink Sand Beach .. when we got back Bob
reported that they headed South of the
Marina and thru the Inlet that we looked
at yesterday and that they had two great
dives ..
- Gayle and Bob met a Father and Son
that were diving with them .. the Father
and Son along with their family ended up
spending some time on SEA BUFF after the
Diving Trip .. they have been in the
Abacos the last number of days so Gayle
and Bob got a number of 'to-do' tips ..
- before we hoisted our Dinghy up onto
the Bow of DEE LIGHT we took it out one
more time to explore the other side of
the Sound .. there is a lot of shallow
waters on the West Side of the and there
are a number of small Settlements .. the
Water Shuttles were busy taking locals
from side to side ..
- the four of us headed out for dinner
on our Golf Cart for the Runaway Hill
Inn at 07:00 pm .. the owner of
Runaway Hill Inn keeps their Boat
at the Harbour Island Marina .. a few
days ago he cough a large Tuna so we had
Tuna for dinner tonight except Betty who
had a steak .. the entire evening was
deelightful ..
- Autumn had a great Birthday .. she
spent the day with 'the girls' aboard
SEA BUFF and then when we returned from
dinner she got a number of steak scraps
from Betty ..
|
