Breeze On

We are still in Brunswick, GA waiting for a weather window to sail north. If we are lucky we will be able to go as far as Beaufort, NC—leaving here in three days. While we wait we have been working on boat chores, going for walks, running errands, and visiting with our dock neighbors. Yesterday we were fortunate to get lessons on a Segway from our dock neighbor, Matt. It was fun but you can see that I have a long way to go before I look comfortable on one.  Video recorded by Sue. 

It has been four months since we last visited Brunswick Landing but in some ways it feels like we never left. The friends we met here last fall are here and we have been enjoying sitting with them on the dock in the mornings while drinking our coffee. We have visited some of the same restaurants and coffee shops and walked the docks looking at boats.  We are also enjoying the ability to order things we have been wanting but couldn’t get in the Bahamas. There are definitely some advantages to being back in the US.  It looks like we won’t get our weather window to head further north for another week or so. In the meantime we will take advantage of what Brunswick has to offer.  The clouds just before a strong thunderstorm came through a few days ago. We saw 43 knots but we heard others clocked the winds at 60 knots. The boat was definitely heeling in the slip. We also saw dime-sized hail. Days with chances of thunderstorms like these are a major reason we are staying put for...

On Wednesday morning we left the Crab Cay anchorage and had a delightful day of sailing 60 nautical miles to Mangrove Cay, a tiny island north of Grand Bahama. Just before 6 am on Thursday we left Mangrove Cay and set a course for the US. We had purchased a custom forecast from Chris Parker and his staff had given us the waypoints for the Gulf Stream entrance, the center of the Gulf Stream where the current is strongest, and the Gulf Stream exit. The wind was behind us and just light enough that we had to keep the engine on. In keeping with our new plan to run the engine at higher rpms, we kept it at 2200 rpms even though at times we were moving at 11 knots, with 4 knots of current helping us along. The seas weren’t too bad, mostly around four feet. When George gybed to head toward Brunswick at 4:50 am Friday morning the wind direction was less behind us and he could finally shut the engine off and sail for eight hours, until the wind shifted and we had to run the engine again.  On...

This morning we left Donny’s Marina in Green Turtle Cay to sail northwest in the northern Abacos. We are staging to leave the Bahamas. It was a lovely day for sailing and we covered areas we have never visited before. After a few hours we stopped at Spanish Cay to top off the fuel tank and fill five jerry cans with diesel. Then we sailed another five miles to anchor at Crab Cay. It is a beautiful and calm anchorage.  We plan to sail another 60 miles tomorrow to Mangrove Cay and depart from there mid-day on Thursday for Brunswick, GA (or as far as we can get.) Our weather window isn’t ideal—too little wind for sailing until the last several hours when there is too much wind.) There isn’t another weather window in the foreseeable future so we are going to take this one.  After anchoring at Crab Cay we have pulled the dinghy up onto the foredeck, partially deflated it, and lashed it to the deck. I have also swapped my warm weather clothes for cold weather clothes.  Although ...

George and I seldom venture from Breeze On after dark but on Saturday night we did something different. Our friends, Jean and Michael, had invited us to go with them to Green Turtle Club for Prime Rib Night. It doesn’t start until 6:30 pm so we had to think about it for a while. In the end we decided we didn’t want to miss the opportunity for a night out with friends, so we went. It required a dinghy ride of a mile and a half each way. On the way over it was a bit choppy and I wasn’t looking forward to going through that chop in the dark on the way back.  The food was delicious and we had a great time. At 9 pm we started back in the dark. George had installed the navigation lights on the dinghy so if there were other boats in our vicinity, they would see us. I held a flashlight so we could see obstructions like mooring balls or pilings. I had recorded a track on my phone on the way over and we followed it on our way back. Fortunately, the wind had calmed down so it wasn’t as choppy...

Yesterday morning we left the anchorage at Great Guana Cay and sailed/motor sailed to Green Turtle Cay. We had to transit the Whale Cay Cut which, in our early trips to the Bahamas, struck fear on our hearts. We had heard several stories about it “raging” (meaning breaking waves across the entire width of the cut.) Now we have a better understanding of the appropriate conditions for transiting the Whale and we did it today without any problem.  We had made arrangements to pick up a mooring ball at Donny’s Marina which is in Black Sound at Green Turtle Cay. The entrance is quite shallow and we wanted to wait until close to high tide to enter the harbor.  We anchored outside of the harbor and waited for the tide to come in. While we waited George ran the watermaker.  We had no problems entering Black Sound and we picked up the last mooring ball Donny had available. We are so happy Donny saved it for us and we have the added bonus of being right next to our friends on Deside...

After spending a night at anchorage on the west shore of the Sea of Abaco, we raised the anchor early Tuesday morning to head further north. The skies were threatening and eventually they opened up with a series of light squalls. It was the first rain we have seen in quite a while. We had wanted to spend a few days in Hope Town but our expectations were low since there are so many boats in the area.  Sure enough, we heard on the radio that there were no mooring balls available in the harbor so we continued on.  As we turned to the northwest the wind picked up and we were able to sail the last few miles to our destination, Great Guana Cay. We thought the anchorage here might provide good protection from the north wind and give us an opportunity to go to shore and walk around. Although there was a lot of grass on the bottom the anchor just hit a small sandy spot and held on the first attempt.  We dinghied ashore for a late lunch at Grabber’s—and it was quite the beach party...

Yesterday we left Harbour Island and sailed 59 miles north to the Abacos. It was enough that we would be transiting the Devil’s Backbone for the first time on our own. To top it off we met a 180 ft, 80 ft wide cargo ship in the Devil’s Backbone. Talk about heart palpitations! We left our anchorage just as the sun was rising. About an hour later, as we were preparing to enter the most narrow part of the Devil’s Backbone, I zoomed the chartplotter out and saw the ship on AIS. It looked as if it was getting ready to enter the Devil’s Backbone. We could hear radio chatter that sounded like the pilot was getting ready to board the ship. I slowed Breeze On down thinking I could wait for them in a wider spot. It was quite choppy, though, and there was no way I could hold a position without boat speed. We thought about turning around but we had already gone through other narrow sections so that didn’t seem like a good option. George hailed the ship in the radio and the pilot acknowledged that ...

After two nights at the Cistern Bay anchorage in Harbour Island, we have declared it our favorite in this area. It is peaceful and pretty with convenient access to good snorkeling and sea turtles. In addition, the holding is good in large patches of sand. The occasional tour boat kicks up a wake but it is not bothersome. We plan to move farther north today to stage for leaving Harbour Island tomorrow morning.  Before moving here on Friday we made one more trip to town to visit the Farmers Market. There were just three vendors but they had quite a variety of foods. We bought mango jam, coconut bread, arugula, and a bag of sapodillas. Then we walked to one more tiny grocery store for apples.  We are anchored near an interesting resort called  the Other Side . Guests stay in platform tents or “shacks” but they refer to it as “glamping” and they look to be quite luxurious on the website. Anchored near us was Vanish, an all-electric solar powered motor catamaran made by  ...

Since we arrived at Harbour Island three days ago we have anchored in three different places. Our first anchorage was on the west side. It isn’t far from the ferry dock and from time to time we would feel the wakes from the ferries running back and forth. The next morning we moved to an anchorage in the northeast corner of the large harbor, Man Island South. The anchorage was well protected from the north winds. When we arrived there was one other boat anchored there, a 78 foot motor catamaran named Ellen’s Dream. I must say, Ellen dreams big. By the end of the day we were joined by several other large boats and a few sailboats. While we were there we dinghied ashore to walk on the lovely beach and on the trail that crosses the island to the Atlantic side.  On the way back to Breeze On we checked out a few promising snorkeling spots. As soon as we changed into our snorkeling outfits, though, the clouds rolled in and we changed our minds.  Yesterday morning we moved once again,...

After spending a night just outside the Spanish Wells harbor we raised the anchor yesterday morning and started out toward Devil’s Backbone and Harbour Island. Our pilot, Captain Neil, had arrived a few minutes earlier. He pulled his boat alongside Breeze On, stepped aboard, tied his boat and off we went. As he was climbing aboard he handed us a bag of fresh johnnycakes. So nice! Captain Neil was at the helm and took us through the Spanish Wells harbor. He pointed out the large fishing boats and said they were getting ready to go out and would be gone until the lobster season ends at the end of March. They catch the lobsters down in the Ragged Islands. George and I have seen them down there and have been amazed at how the divers will work in rough seas.  The portion of our trip that is called the Devil’s Backbone is so named because it is quite narrow, with a beach on one side and coral reefs on the other.  It was high tide when we were going through there so none of the coral...