2015 Homecoming

Last year’s blog ended on May 1st 2015 with Peapod in Nassau waiting for a weather window. One storm after another blew through while we were hunkered down at the Harbour Central Marina. Even on stormy days we were treated to the golden light over Atlantis, as well as the comings and goings of this busy harbour.

When it rains it pours in Nassau and the downtown streets become raging rivers of water. David and I dared to set out on a provisioning expedition on one of these days and even in our high rubber boots had to crisscross the road to avoid the deepest puddle-lakes. David further reinforced the frame for the solar panels hoping to avoid another collapse onto our bimini (sun top), which was already showing signs of wear from previous heavy weather events.

The good news was that we had lovely boat neighbours who were also waiting to cross to the U.S. Each night, depending on the weather, we would share sundowners on the dock or on one of our boats trading stories of our adventures. These tales, along with the many lessons we have all learned along the way, are the boating gravy and a true gift to relative newbies like us.

One day the six of us hiked over the bridge to Paradise Island, a pristine contrast to the grittier Nassau side of the bridge. There were costly condos and elegant shops with $800 sundresses and pricey souvenirs. We were hot and thirsty after our walk so bought some Kalik beers to go at $9 a pop!!! Outrageous!  We could gawk at the huge yachts tied up at the marina but the resort at Atlantis is no longer accessible to tourists without paying a visitors fee. Us po’ folks were certainly not that desperate to see how the other half lives!

We also had time to explore the fish market, a unique spot full of gnarly characters and matching boats. We bought fresh red snappers – a bag of 5 fish for $10!

Finally, we all agreed that May 7^th would be the day to make a dash to the Berry Islands en route to West End, Grand Bahama Island for the trip home. This would be uncharted territory for us as we had arrived in the Bahamas in April via Bimini from Miami. Because we had decided to store our boat in Indiantown on the Okeechobee Canal inland from Palm Beach, it made sense to take the “northern” route home and minimize the fight with the northbound Gulf Stream.

We left our “home” in Nassau at the crack o’ dawn. Our friends in the big cruisers pulled ahead quickly as Peapod lumbered along at 7-8 knots. It was a gorgeous sunny day with flat calm seas as we cruised past the Berry Islands, over the northernmost islands of Great Stirrup and Little Stirrup Cays. Nearly 10 hours later we pulled into a sheltered anchorage on the west side at Great Harbour where our friends had anchored hours earlier.

Time for a swim! The water was silky and warm as I swam out to check everyone’s anchors, which were firmly planted in the white sand. We dinghied to meet the neighbours for sundowners and yummy appetizers. We also got some practice blowing the conch in the golden light of the sunset. Our friend Jacqueline was the real expert at this sailors’ sundown tradition.

An even earlier start (6AM) the next morning found us headed for West End, the traditional jumping off point for the Palm Beach area. Again the “big boys” left us in their wake as we made our way northwest toward Grand Bahama Island. About halfway through our crossing we spotted huge thunderstorms ahead, which eventually gave birth to multiple waterspouts – tornadoes on water.

The larger boats communicated by radio that they were going to put the hammer down and thread the needle between them. They soon disappeared from view and radio contact. We were watching closely on our radar and knew we couldn’t outrun them so we radically changed our course to head southwest, thinking we might end up in Bimini after all. This strategy would have its own challenges, as approaching Bimini from the north is fraught with dangers due to reefs and rocks.

After a huge detour, we saw a break between the thunderclouds and decided to make a run for Grand Bahama Island. Given the time we had spent on our diversion there was no way to make West End before dark. I used the cruising guide to find the closest safe harbour, which is how we discovered one of our now-favourite places. Our breadcrumb trail on the chart plotter shows our hilarious loop-de-loop as we waffled about the safest route.

We gratefully entered the sheltered harbour of the Sunrise Resort and Marina near Freeport at 6 PM, 12 hours after setting out. This discovery was truly serendipitous. Not only were we were welcomed with open arms and smiles by the friendly staff of this peaceful oasis, but it was the most inexpensive accommodation we had found in the Bahamas!

We were now only 6 days away from our flight home and still had to cross the Gulf Stream, get to Indiantown and put the boat to bed! We had no choice but to grit our teeth and make the crossing from Sunrise rather than West End. This added an extra 30 miles or so to our journey, which at 6-8 knots meant another 4 hours.

We set out with a course nearly due west to Palm Beach. The winds were from the south, the seas up to 10 feet from the north, and the Gulf Stream was pushing us north. After rolling in beam seas for as long as we could tolerate, we changed our course for a planned landing at St. Lucie inlet further north, adding more miles to the route.

This change in direction took some pressure off the boat and crew but it was still pretty wild out there. Thankfully it was May and the days were long. We managed to get into Manatee Pocket and anchor just before dark after a nearly 15-hour marathon.

One of our “buddy” boats was also anchored there. The next morning we had to check in with Homeland Security at St. Lucie Airport in Fort Pierce, a $150 cab ride away! Once we were legal we shared a great shore-side lunch before returning to our respective boats.

Only trouble was, our friends’ boat was gone!! We searched the anchorage and finally found her stern first up against a millionaire’s dock with the owners looking very annoyed and the police scratching their heads.

Apparently her anchor had failed and she had floated though this crowded anchorage without hitting any other boats, landing in soft mud. A miracle indeed!! We all got aboard and managed to get her underway and back to her anchoring spot. Interestingly we had been having anchor conversations with these folks before all this happened. We had been bragging about our new Rocna 20, which had never failed to hold even in very rough conditions. Needless to say, they planned to purchase a new anchor as soon as possible!

The next day we weighed anchor at the civilized hour of 9AM and headed up the Okeechobee Canal to Indiantown. The next 2 days we scrambled to prepare the boat for storage, a job that we would rather have 4 to 5 days to complete. Fortunately the Indiantown Marina is a lovely spot to relax at the end of the day.

We worked from dawn to dusk. The biggest job is dismantling the canvas cover for the fly bridge and solar panels. Believe me, taking it down is the easy part. The two of us figuring out how to get it back together provided other boaters with a good chuckle this year and we swore we would leave it up in the future!

We hauled out on May 13^th. The lift crew was the most professional we have encountered so far and the trip to the storage yard went off with no elevation in our respective blood pressures. We drove to Miami airport that afternoon for our flight the next morning. Whew!!!