The Bahamas - FINALLY

Crew Arrluk has had some adventures and a few challenges since our last post.  Internet connectivity has been scarce as well as time and energy to sit down and write about events.

As March arrived, and brought with it strong northerly winds that make crossing the Gulf Stream a very unpleasant adventure, we elected to hunker down and "suffer through" a few days of the Lighthouse Point Yacht and Racket club while awaiting more favorable weather.  The marina was wonderful and staff incredibly friendly and helpful, although we did feel a bit of the ugly duckling in Arrluk surrounded by multi million dollar yachts, complete with their own hired-on crew.  We took full advantage of the pool and restaurant,  rented a car for more shopping and exploring the region, and busied ourselves with knocking off a few more of those items on the ever growing to-do list of repairs.

 Crew Arrluk's land adventures took us to the raucous and famous South Beach, in Miami Beach. We walked for hours and managed to resist all of the sidewalk cafe's and their pretty gals out front hawking the menu, only to off the beach and enjoy a wonder Thai dinner in a small restaurant.

The beautiful and strange plants we found in the
Botanical Gardens of the Deerfield Beach Aboretum

A very different tree native to India

Our land adventures took us to Haulover Beach, to walk in the sand.  We stumbled upon one of the few nude beaches in the area!  Fortunately for the kids, the weather was windy and cold so there were no brave souls out baring it all for us that day.  And mom and dad were not tempted to commit the ultimate foo-pah of going ah' natural to the embarrassment of all in attendance.

Crewman Don finally had to admit that, just like last year, he was to be thwarted by mother nature and not make it to our planned destination for his return flights to Portland, OR from the Bahamas.  With a deadline of returning on March 5th, he finally changed his flights to return from Ft. Lauderdale.  With sadness in our hearts we bid farewell to our buddy, determined to firm up our remaining crew into a well oiled machine (yeah well maybe by the end of the cruise!)



As Don prepared to leave, so did we.  Forecast Southerly then westerly winds and favorable sea conditions meant we could take the shot across the Gulf Stream and hit the Bahamas.  We elected to use the current to our advantage and take the run to West End, the northwest tip of Grand Bahama Island. Making a night run and timing it for an arrival about daybreak, so we could see to enter the narrow harbor entrance, we thought would be the best plan.  We started out of Ft. Lauderdale harbor (Everglades entrance) about 4 PM on March 5th.

Ft. Lauderdale skyline from several miles to sea.

The journey had a few surprises; The first thing we learned was that our stabilizers, which help reduce the side to side roll of the boat in rough seas, just didn't function, a problem we are still troubleshooting nearly a week later.  This made the trip a bit unpleasant to begin with but seas were not rough ... initially.

The gulf stream did its job and jetted us eastward.  Even though I throttled the engine back to barely an idle, we still made far faster time than I anticipated, arriving at West End about 4 AM.  Finally, those favorable west winds for crossing the Stream were decidedly NOT favorable to the condition of the seas just off the harbor.  The seas were rough with about 10-12 foot swells.  Since we could not go into the harbor in the dark, we had little choice but to motor about a few miles offshore and wait out daylight.  With seas as rough as they were, this was significantly unpleasant with all hands but Captain Bob heading below decks to hunker down in their bunks while Bob white knuckled the helm until first light.

We pulled into the harbor with a stiff west wind right after sunrise, tied up at the nearest dock, cleared customs and then took a well deserved nap.

Crew Arrluk on the dock at West End, Bahamas

Later, we explored the nice beach on the eastern side of the Cay.  It was amazing to see the raging sea to our west, and just across the bar was a calm sandy beach, facing the Little Bahama Bank.

Ray and Alex testing the waters

Alex's first experience with a hammock

Ray got the hammock down in no time

We spent the night of the 6th in the Old Bahama Bay Marina, at West End.  A well deserved rest while we awaited a change of wind and a calmer harbor exit than we experienced at our entrance.  Across from us was a 31 foot sailboat, the Growing Together, with a family of 6 aboard; David, Kate and their 4 children from 18 to 10 years old.  Little did we know at the time, but our paths would cross a number of times over the coming days.

On the 7th, we left in the early afternoon, and headed north then east up onto the Little Bahama Bank, several hours after the sailing family headed out in the same direction.  Our destination was Mangrove Cay, a popular anchorage not far across the Bank.  We arrived at dusk, set a solid anchor, BBQ'd a quick dinner and collapsed in bed.  100 yards to our east was moored Growing Together.

After a fitful night, listening to every creak and groan of the anchor line, the whistling of the wind against to boat and mast lines and repeatedly glancing over at the iPhone Anchor Alarm (a magnificent little application known as Drag Queen) we arose early to a magnificent day.  As Growing Together motored past we exchanged greetings and learned they were headed to Great Sale Cay, where we also intended to anchor that afternoon.  The cruising that day was magnificent.  Even with 15 to 20 knot winds to the north of us off of the Little Bahama Bank, the bank seas were about two feet and we made quick time to Great Sale, arriving shortly after low tide.  Nestled up against the island, well sheltered from the winds was Growing Together.  We dared not get that close to the island, being a bit frightful of the shallow waters and our prior experience of sitting in the mud at low tide for a few hours in the ICW.  We elected to anchor to the south about a mile,  in muddy sandy bottom.  

Being the diligent cruiser, I decided to snorkel out to the anchor and check it's set, as recommended by experts.  Those experts forgot to mention that the northern Bahamian waters were a bit cold, so my best intentions ended after about 5 minutes in the water.  Instead, we launched the dingy and I snorkeled to the anchor from the surface.  She was well set, and so were we, for a magnificent sunset and a good nights rest:

We arose the next morning to see our neighbors motor by and turn east.  Soon we were on our way in that direction as well.  We'd settled on a small marina at Spanish Cay, about 40 miles to the east and the first marina in what is known as the Sea of Abaco.

We found shallower seas than those charted and needed to alter course several times to keep from grounding, but we made it to Spanish Cay Marine in the mid afternoon along with a brisk NE wind that made  docking a bit of a challenge.  Thanks to several able bodied deck hands, several folks on the docks and good strong thrusters we got Arrluk tied in safely.  Nestled three slips away from us was Growing Together.

Sunset over the south end of Great Sale Cay

Spanish Cay Marina

The marina turned out to be nearly empty, as it is their off season.  We've been exploring the island and making friends with the family aboard.  Matt's been fishing and snorkeling, and tonight we are are enjoying a joint movie night in our 'spacious' salon.  Both crews elected to stay here another day to await better weather south of us.  Down that direction, in less than a day's cruise, is the infamous Whale Cay Cut, a narrow, deep cut to the Atlantic we must all pass to continue south to the southern portion of the Sea of Abaco.  This jog out into the Atlantic, and back into the Abaco is notorious for nasty seas and is only done safely when the weather and seas are just right.  This combination now looks, from weather and sea condition reports, to be no sooner than this coming Tuesday.  No one is in a hurry to rush into danger so we are using our time wisely with projects and walks along the beach.  Oh, and trying out some Kalik Bahamian Beer ... not bad!