Sue and bob

After 10 days of boat maintenance, preparation, systems tests and provisioning, we were finally on our way. Boat prep took longer than normal due to the installation of a new wind powered generator, a new battery isolation system and a few other things.

At 7:11 am on 15 April, Windancer and crew (Capt'n Sue, Capt'n Bob and BD, the feline queen) cast off from Bahia Beach Marina, Florida, for a layback cruise to points south and east. This year will be different, as we only have a loose plan and no real schedule, other than to return in late June. Just living and relaxing on island time. Sail when and where the wind takes us. The loose plan is to head to the Exuma Islands in the central Bahamas and explore a few of the 350+ islands, their white beaches, coral reefs, coastal waters and abundant marine life. The Bahamas 2002 trip has begun, hope you enjoy the cruise.

As we departed Tampa Bay under full sail, we both felt a little apprehensive. Even though this is our 4th major trip on Windancer, with each trip and the lessons that we have learned, comes a deeper respect for the sea and less dependence on blind luck to make it through.

Crow’s Nest Marina, Venice, Florida

The trip from Tampa Bay to Venice, Florida was a smooth 50 mile sail.

Our second leg was straight south from Venice to Key West. It was to be 185 miles but with a northerly flowing current, we had to travel over 200 miles. The trip was planned to take 32 hours. Overnight sails and standing watches are not our favorite things. If it were a clear moon lit night with calm seas and a gentle breeze, night sails would be a piece of cake.rgin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0"> How To Travel 35 Miles in 10 Hours

Nassau Yacht Haven, Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

Allen’s Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Shroud Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Norman’s Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Highborne Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Hawksbill Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Warderick Wells Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Exuma Sound, Bahamas

Staniel Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Black Point, Great Guana Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

No Name Harbor, Key Biscayne, Florida

Dockside Marina, Marathon, Florida - Again

A Father's Day to Remember (aka Mother Natures Last Chance).

This is a collection of emails (with some additions) sent to our friends during our trip.

Throughout this article, you can click on the thumbnail pictures to enlarge them.

Preparation before leaving Texas

This year's trip entailed a lot less planning and study of maps, charts, and cruising guides, as this is our third trip to the Bahamas. This year our preparation took a different turn. I (Bob) spent a fair amount of time over the last year preparing for my Captain's license exams. In October, I spent 10 days in the Houston area taking classes, exams, physical, drug test, etc, for my Captain's license and master's rating. I passed and am now a Captain in the Merchant Marines with a master's rating and a sailing supplement. Although now I can captain a vessel up to 50 gross tons for profit and carry paying passengers, the real reason for getting the Captain's license was for the knowledge and experience and to feel safer and more confident at sea.

In March, after a lot of whining "I may not be smart enough" - Sue followed suit and spent 10 days (days and nights) studying and taking the exams.&n

The forecast from multiple sources called for light and variable winds throughout the night. What is wrong with weathermen? Can't they see what happens out there at night? During the afternoon, thunderstorms built up over land, but they would die off once they moved off shore. Famous last words. The wind built as the thunderstorms approached us 20 miles off shore. At least the wind would subside after the thunderstorms passed. Famous last words number 2. The wind averaged 20+ knots all night and with the wind, the seas built to about 4 feet. These were far from the worst conditions that we have sailed in, but still far from comfortable or ideal. It is like living in a washing machine for hours. Another sailor out that night called the weather "snotty" - I guess that sums it up.

Galleon Marina, Key West, Florida

At 1:00 pm the following afternoon we pulled into one of our favorite spots, Key West. Key West is a little like New Orleans and a little like no where else. Great music, food, drink and entertainment. The tourists are a show in themselves. The old harbor area, where we dock Windancer, is known as Key West Bight. It is full of working boats and pleasure craft of all descriptions, including 70' modern catamarans and old 150' schooners. Million dollar yachts come and go like spare change. After 3 days biking of around and enjoying Key West, we left for Marathon.

After a nice day sail, we arrived in Marathon, the middle of the Florida Keys, to wait for a weather window to go to the Bahamas.

Dockside Marina, Marathon, Florida

Marathon, Florida is in the middle of the Keys, 50 miles from Key West. We have been here a week waiting for good weather to make the Gulf Stream crossing to the Bahamas. It looks like conditions will be right on Tuesday, 30 Apr. So we will sail up the keys on Monday to our jump off point and anchor off of Key Largo. Tuesday, we will leave the Key Largo anchorage at about 3:30 am and hope to arrive at North Cat Cay (pronounced Key) about 3:00 pm with good light to enter the cut through the reef. If all goes well we will be in the Bahamas Tuesday night.

Marathon is a great hangout for cruisers and misfit in the Keys. What a collection of characters, good seafood and a band playing on the docks every night. We bike all over town, work on the boat, talk to other cruisers - what a tough life.

We have met another couple in Marathon who were heading for the Bahamas and the Exuma Cays and with similar plans and attitudes. Similar attitudes and knowledge are important when joining another cruiser. Their 'lay back' and play it safe attitude matches ours. So we planned to sail with Jim and Tari Crowley and their boat 'Pacific Dream' for as long as it is convenient and our paths match. Jim is a retired Captain with 25 years of sea experience and Tari is a Paralegal. They have been living aboard their 42' Tayana sailboat for about 10 years, but this was their first cruise to the Exumas. We got along extremely well and sailed together until we had to turn around and head home.

We departed Marathon on 29 April and headed up the Keys to our jump off point near Key Largo. The wind was on our nose again, so we motored up the Hawk Channel, which is a 15 foot deep channel between the Keys and the reef. The reef, which is about 3 miles off the Keys, is the 3rd largest reef in the world, behind the Great Barrier Reef off Australia and the reef off Belize. The reef protects the water of the Hawk Channel from the waves and sea conditions of the Gulf Stream. Hawk Channel is dotted with coral heads and shoals, which is why we don’t hoist our sails and tack back and forth, up the channel. Tacking back and forth would require continuous precise navigation to insure that we didn't hit the coral or go aground.

The water color is deep dark blue with patches of beautiful turquoise where the white sand shines up from the bottom.

"The Devil wags his Tail."

We watched a bank of dark clouds to the South and East and saw numerous waterspouts trying to form. The thin tails would snake down out of the clouds and dance around for a while, then disappear as fast as they formed. An old sailor saying to describe waterspouts is "The Devil wags his Tail."

Rodriguez Key, off of Key Largo, Florida

We anchored behind Rodriguez Key in preparation for our jump across the Gulf Stream.

We made great time crossing from Florida to the Bahamas. We left at 3:30 am with a near full moon that would stay up past sunrise. We took off with a few minor glitches. Nothing like having to do problem solving at that time of the morning. We motor sailed for 90% of the day. With the push of the Gulf Stream we got up to 9.5 knots (about 11 mph). That was excellent speed.

Thoughts From the Middle of the Gulf Stream: Back in Dallas a 33' sailboat is a good sized boat. Around Florida a 33' is a medium size boat. Out in the Gulf Stream, out of sight of land, we felt the vastness of the ocean and how insignificantly small our vessel and we are. We bob and weave at the will of the waves. We heal and move at the will of the wind. We are in control as much as Mother Nature will allow.

We had 2 birds join us for the trip. One large white bird stayed on the bow of the boat for about 5 hours. Once he spotted land he took off. A nice easy trip for him. The other was a Cuban Canary. Very friendly little bird. Even sat on Bob's head for a while. He just stayed for about a half an hour. Amazing that these birds are so far out from land.

We made it to Cat Cay, Bahamas about 2:20 in the afternoon with great light with which to eyeball navigate our way through the reef. We cleared Customs, bought some fresh fish from the local fishermen on the dock, refueled and anchored out about 500 yards from shore. Went for a swim, had drinks with Jim and Tari from 'Pacific Dream', had dinner and crashed.

What a fabulous crossing. Crossing the Gulf Stream takes a lot of preparation and nerve. If things go wrong, it could be quite dangerous. The trip was worth it. There is nothing like the beauty of the Bahamas and the sense of accomplishment at having made a successful crossing.

Cat Cay, Great Bahama Banks, Bahamas

Cat Cay and the Great Bahama Banks have long been a favorite hang out of pirates, poets and sailors.

The bottom of the Gulf Stream rises sharply from a half mile deep to meet the coral and island encrusted edge of the Great Bahama Banks. A chain of small islands such as Bimini, Gun Cay and Cat Cay dot the edge of the Banks. A long time favorite hang out of fisherman like Ernest Hemingway and smugglers and pirates of all descriptions, these beautiful little islands are rarely seen today except by fishermen and cruisers passing through. Palm covered with white sand beaches and craggy coral passages, these islands are the cruisers introduction to the Bahamas. And what lies beyond is incomprehensible. The Great Bahama Banks stretch for hundreds of miles in each direction. In the middle of the ocean is this white sand plateau, covered with 10 to 15 feet of crystal clear water. Nowhere in the Caribbean do such banks exist, except in the Bahamas.

Sailing on the Banks, you are surrounded from horizon to horizon by white sand covered with gin clear water. The color is a beautiful turquoise that reflects up and makes the low clouds appear pale green.

After a night anchorage behind Cat Cay and some shelling on Cat Cay sandbars, (Sue got a Bahamian sand dollar, 6 holes instead of 5 that the US sand dollars have), we raised our sails and headed east toward Chub Cay and Nassau. What a great sail! A 15 knot breeze out of the south, we were doing better than 6 knots (about 7 mph). We had the engine turned off and were on sail power alone. Such peace and quiet! That is pretty good for a floating house.

A peaceful sail! What a fabulous day.

I don't want to shatter any sailor's dreams here, but when island hopping; cruisers rarely get to move around by wind alone. Almost always you need an assist from the iron genoa (diesel engine) to get you safely into the next anchorage before dark. Voyaging sailors who travel great distances across deep water have both the luxury of time and the need for wind's power. They can't carry enough fuel for long crossings and they sail day and night. Night sailing in islands like the Bahamas is treacherous and almost never done. Much of island navigation is around coral heads, sand bars and the like, and is done by eyeball. No chart accurately depicts all the hazards that lie beneath the surface. We have to watch for shapes and color of the water to tell depth and the type of bottom. No tacking and gybing around coral heads unless absolutely necessary. Blow one tack and you can end your cruise on a reef. So we motor sail a lot, but not today. Today there was no worry of reefs or sandbars. Just beautiful water for miles upon miles.

We stopped in the middle of the Banks for the night. Absolutely nothing around us except the boat that we are traveling with and water. We went swimming before dinner, but did not venture far from the boat, as there was a healthy current. The sunset was beautiful and the stars were incredible!

About 3:00 AM the following morning the wind came up and we started to rock and roll. With no land in sight to break the wind or the wave action, the seas built and sleeping was hard. By 7:00 AM, both boats (Windancer and Pacific Dream) were tired of the pitching around and we pulled anchor and headed for Chub Cay, ten hours away, in the Berry Islands. The winds built as we left the Banks and entered the deep water of the Northwest Channel. The wind was on the nose, so we motored through 4 to 6 ft seas. We finally reached the protection of Chub Cay. Or so we thought.

Chub Cay, Berry Islands, Bahamas

The anchorage at Chub Cay was less than perfect. The waves wrapped around the point of the island and the wind kept blowing hard. For the second night, we rocked and rolled. Only this time it was from side to side. The next morning, the wind had died down and the forecast said that that day was to be the lowest wind and wave conditions for several days. Not ideal conditions, but the forecast sounded good enough, so we pulled anchor and headed across Northwest Channel for Nassau.

How To Travel 35 Miles in 10 Hours.

35 miles does not sound far, but after hours of bucking into building waves, it started to look like we would not make Nassau before dark. We could only average about 2 knots when going straight towards Nassau, so we started tacking back and forth, working the wind shifts. We tacked dozens of times back and forth across Northwest Channel. We felt like we were racing. Watching the winds to take advantage of every shift so that it would take us closer to Nassau. I was the tactician and Bob was the helmsman. New Providence Island finally appeared on the horizon in mid afternoon, but we still had hours to go before we would reach our destination. The winds lightened and the waves settled a little and just before 6:00 PM we sailed into Nassau Harbor and made our way to a marina and a slip for the next couple of nights.

Solid land. No rock and roll. Aw - the little pleasures.

Nassau Yacht Haven, Nassau, New Providence Island, Bahamas

We spent a couple of days just relaxing in Nassau, restocking our provisions, and seeing the sites. We watched the weather again, waiting for the right winds to carry us across the Yellow Banks and on to the Exuma Islands. The Yellow Banks are strewn with coral heads 20 feet across, which lie just a few feet below the surface. We have to cross these Banks with good light so we can spot and avoid the coral.

Nassau is a big city. We walked and walked, and took the local bus to see Fort Fincastle, the Straw Market, and various other sites. We were looking forward to getting to the quiet islands with calm water and snorkeling.

We left Nassau on Wednesday, 8 May, with forecast of 10 to 15 knots from the East and we were heading southeast across the Yellow Banks. After a choppy crossing of the 10 mile wide channel off of Nassau, we entered the Yellow Banks, which are peppered with black coral heads, just under the surface and surrounded by white sand. The coral is easy to spot a few hundred yards ahead. The coral heads are too numerous to chart so it requires eyeball navigation. Eyeball navigation is required throughout the Bahamas, as charts can't keep up with changing conditions, so the best approach is to see and avoid. The trick is learning the different shades of dark spots in the water. A patch of sea grass, a cloud and a coral head all are dark spots but with slight differences. Also the sand gets lighter as the water above it gets thinner or more shallow. Reading the water is a required art to be mastered in the Bahamas. We watched as a 56', million dollar yacht drove past us in Allen's Cay and did not slow as the sand bottom turned from aqua to white. He drove the boat directly on a sandbar that was both on the chart and plainly visible to anyone reading the water (he had more dollars than sense).

Allen’s Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

After crossing the Yellow Banks, we arrived and anchored between SW Allen's and Leaf Cay. These islands are inhabited by a large population of iguanas who scramble to the beach for handouts when any boat or dinghy lands. Even though the anchorage is protected by 3 larger and many smaller islands and reefs, the surge from the Exuma Sound, the shifting tidal currents, and the wind (10 to 20+ knots), made the anchorage unsettled and rolly. After exploring the area and two nights of rolling, we moved south past a few of our intended anchorages to take refuge behind Shroud Cay.

Shroud Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

Shroud Cay offered excellent protection from the building winds, which were forecast to be 20 to 25 knots on Mother's Day. We hope to go back up to the missed anchorages, especially to Norman's Cay to get some fabulous hamburgers and french fries at MacDuff’s.

Shroud Cay is a large island with a big mangrove marsh in the center. While we waited for the winds to subside we explored the channels that criss-cross the mangrove marsh in the center island.

Mother's Day: Jim and Tari invited us over for a Mother's Day brunch. We have been sharing meals, snacks and drinks on each other's boat while we wait out the high winds and sea conditions. Great brunch! We have been reading, swimming, exploring, doing boat chores and just relaxing in the sun. Good weather will come, and meanwhile the scenery and water colors are great. We hope to explore more of Shroud Cay this afternoon.

One good thing about the wind is that the new wind powered generator that we installed is keeping the batteries charged and the refrigerator and the electronics going. It has been giving us a constant 5 to 15 amp output, depending on wind speed.

Got up early, about 6:45 and listened to the weather forecast on several different stations. Actually we listen to the official forecast on AM radio at 6:45, then at 7:00 on the Single Side Band where cruisers report the weather conditions from various islands, then one or two broadcasts on the VHF radio which include off-shore reports and other cruising related information. It is not like in the States where you get the weather every hour on the hour with a five-day forecast, turn on the weather channel or call up current weather on the internet. Here we only get a 24-hour forecast, and it is only updated once a day. The lack of good weather information seems strange to us, especially when so many people are dependent on the weather.

Norman’s Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

What a great day. The winds have subsided, the seas have flattened and the weather is great, so we sailed north to Norman’s Cay and had a hamburger and french fries at MacDuff’s. MacDuff's is a little resort built on the site of what was the largest drug trans-shipment operation in the Bahamas during the 70s and early 80s. The runway is still in operation, but all of the facilities are in ruins. They are fun to explore. One of the cargo airplanes that didn't make it to the runway still sits in the anchorage and is a great snorkel spot.

One morning Jim, from Pacific Dream, and I (Sue) went by dingy to another anchorage and went snorkeling for conch, a crustacean that is very good to eat. We finally found a large area in the shallows and after about an hour we had 14 conch. We headed back to our boats, about a 10 minute ride by dingy and picked up Bob and Jim's wife and headed to the beach to clean our catch. What fun we had! Took us a good 2 hours to clean the conch. This is a very tough muscle creature that then has to be pounded to make it tender. We cooked them and were they ever great. We made Cracked Conch (battered and fried). Very tasty!

It is very fun to cruise with another couple. This is the best. Gives you opportunities to do things together, and someone else to bounce your ideas off of. You are each on your own boat, but it is always someone else to talk to and do things with. We are very much enjoying our trip together.

Highborne Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

We sailed for about 2 hours today. Came back up north in the island chain to Highborne Cay in order to get to a phone, get fuel, water and a few provisions. We had been gone from Nassau for 8 days and had only used 25 gallons of water and 15 gallons of fuel. We have been very conservative. Out of over 350 islands in the Exumas, only six have fuel, food and water. Preparation, planning and conservation are required of cruisers in this area.

Our provisions are holding out pretty well. I need some fresh bread, eggs and maybe some vegetables.

We will head South probably tomorrow. There are several islands that we want to visit before we have to head back to the states.

So far this has been a great trip. I would recommend it to anyone.

Hawksbill Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

We moved south to Hawksbill Cay where we explored and walked on long stretches of white sand beaches with no signs of civilization to be seen; just the sand, the beautiful water and the setting sun. Much of the Exumas are this way. You have to enjoy getting away from it all to appreciate these islands.

Tonight was one of those 'Once in a Lifetime' kind of nights. But here in the Exumas it can happen often. We were off the beaten path, anchored just off Hawksbill Cay. We took the dingy in to a pristine white beach, which stretched for almost a mile. Not a footprint other than ours or any other trace of humanity marred its perfect beauty. We walked the length of the beach while watching the sun sink through the clouds and set over the Great Bahama Banks.

Earlier in the day we had explored the island and hiked to the remains of a number of Loyalists home sites. The Loyalists left the US after the American Revolution and were given land in the Bahamas by the King of England. It is hard to imagine how they survived on these craggy limestone islands with little soil and only rainwater for fresh water. This year they have not had rain since November 2001. That is a long stretch without fresh water.

The history of these families is very interesting. If you are interested in the Bahamas, a little history, background on the islands, and a great story of a families survival through many generations, read "Wind from the Carolinas" written by Robert Wilder, and published by Bluewater Books & Charts, Fort Lauderdale, FL.

High winds returned after a few days rest. We departed Hawksbill Cay for Warderick Wells Cay in 15 knots of wind. The first leg south was 40 degrees off the wind and we unfurled Windancer's big genoa (front sail). This powerful sail pulled us through the building seas. As the wind built to 20 knots and our course turned closer to the wind (within 20 degrees), we had to roll in the genoa and raise the mainsail. Windancer at 6 tons only has 3 tons of weight in her keel to counteract the healing force of sails. She is considered a tender boat in that she will heal over heavily if she is under full sail in 15 knots of wind. So, as the wind increases, we reduce the amount of sail that we have up. We can furl (roll up) some or all of the genoa and we can reef or shorten the main sail in steps.

As the wind and seas built, we sailed under a reefed mainsail and beat into the wind. The big waves came in sets of 3 and as Windancer charged through a big wave, her bow was tossed up and then crashed down into the next wave. When she hit, she sent spray and foam flying 30' down wind. The spray on the upwind side of the bow was caught by the wind and was blown back across the boat and through the cockpit. The action of the boat cutting through the turquoise waves, rising and falling, spray and foam flying, is enjoyable to watch. It does take some getting used to, as it can be intimidating.

The pounding of the waves can kill your forward progress. The typical sailboat's engine would be hard pressed to drive the boat directly into heavy seas without the power of the sails. Years of paying attention to sail trim while racing Hobie Cats really pays off in driving the boat to windward.

Warderick Wells Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

At the end of a 4 hour sail, we pulled into one of the most beautiful anchorages in the Exumas - Warderick Wells. It is a 20 ft deep horseshoe shaped channel surrounded by crystal water and white sand. Within swimming distance are a number of coral gardens with fish, lobster, conch, rays, etc. We planned to be here for several days.

Paradise may not be perfect, but it is not a bad place to be trapped by the weather. A front was stalled just North of us, bringing rain and unsettled conditions. Only a few cruisers were moving around the Exumas. Most were hiding out in the most protected anchorage that they could find. We heard weather reports from other cruisers in the Bahamas via the HF Single Sideband radio. It was not uncommon to hear reports of 30-50 knot winds and six foot seas inside some of the harbors.

And then more bad weather. A tropical depression has formed in the Southwestern Caribbean and was headed for Cuba and then the Bahamas. We checked the weather FAX and the 72-hour weather FAX forecast showed the low pressure directly over our location in the Central Bahamas. What to do? Where can we run? How long did we have? Was the forecast really correct? We looked at our options, and studied the charts for anchorages protected from all directions since the wind would clock around us from every direction. Some cruisers wanted to run to Georgetown and its large harbor, but that is too far away and the big harbor might not give us adequate protection. Some other cruisers were heading northwest to Nassau, but the first ones will get the marinas, the rest will be forced to anchor out in the open. We saw this weather trend early enough and were able to get a mooring in the Exuma Land and Sea Park harbor. The moorings are stressed for gale force winds and the harbor is small and protected on all sides. The bad weather took a long time to develop with a couple of days of great weather followed by a little taste of bad. It was tempting to leave the security, but we were too unsure of what the weather would bring. We could not find a safer place.

The low passed over us. We had a whole day of thunderstorms and at times very high winds. We were hoping it would be out of here tomorrow or at the latest on Tuesday. Then we would be able to move on and get fuel, water and food.

Our stay here was very enjoyable. We hiked most of the trails, explored the beaches, snorkeled the reefs, explored the Loyalist ruins, and socialized with other cruisers. The reefs were the best so far. We saw angelfish the size of dinner plates, lobsters the size of our dog, sharks and rays bigger than either of us. And, of course, the beautiful coral. We have used our digital camera a lot. We had gotten some great underwater shots.

Warderick Wells The Banks Exuma Sound Boo Boo Hill Our offering Typical Underwater Lobster

And then the next news. We had a family emergency. Bobby, our son, fell 35' in a Dallas parking garage. He had a crushed pelvis and a compound fracture of the wrist. The doctors and his wife, Gina, were taking good care of him at Parkland Hospital. It was difficult being away at this time. We talked to them almost daily. Thank goodness the couple that we were sailing with had a satellite phone. We know he will have a long recovery. Bobby is doing well. He is back to work. Still has a brace in his arm and is on a walker until about mid August. He has a lot of bolts holding his pelvis together. Should be fun going through an airport!

The weather pattern that held us, and most other boats in the area, captive finally moved and good weather returned. After 13 days in the Warderick Wells Harbor, we sailed out into Exuma Sound and headed south to Staniel Cay.

Exuma Sound, Bahamas

Exuma Sound is a mile deep and a great game fishing location. We trolled a line from fishing rods on each side of the boat. An hour and a half into our trip, Sue got the first strike. We thought she had a great fish. I slowed the boat, reeled in the other line, brought the dinghy, that we were dragging in close, cleared the cockpit and got the gaff ready. After a 10 minute fight it turned out to be a barracuda, which we released.

An hour later, Sue got another strike, so I started through the same routine again. As I was reeling in my line I also got a strike. Both Sue and I were fighting strong fish on opposite sides of the boat. No one to clear the decks, bring in the dingy and man the gaff. Both fish were stripping line off of Sue's 50 pound test spool and my 20 pound test spool. I had to really clamp down on the drag as line was running out on my reel. After 3 long hard runs, my fish broke the line and won his freedom. Sue continued to fight her fish. She would get it close to the boat and it would make another run or dive and strip the line back off the reel. I don't know who was more tired, Sue or the fish, but Sue won and boated a 30 pound Bonita which is in the tuna family. That put a lot of meat in the refrigerator.

Staniel Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

We arrived in the early afternoon at Staniel Cay and navigated our way in through the reef from Exuma Sound to the anchorage on the backside of Staniel Cay. We stopped and got fuel and water.

At low tide, we snorkeled Thunderball Grotto, which is a cave inside an island. You can enter the cave through a half dozen openings. Once inside, the cave is lit by openings through the top of the island. The Grotto and its surroundings are filled with fish and covered with coral and sponges of all colors and descriptions. Portions of the James Bond movie "Thunderball" and the Tom Hanks movie "Splash" were filmed here. This is one of three grottos in the Exumas. We got some great pictures.

Thunderball Grotto pictures:

One entrance Same entrance Another entrance Holes in roof Stalactites from And another Yet another

from underwater from above to the Grotto the ceiling entrance entrance

Fish in the Coral & Brain & fan Coral Fish

shadows sponges coral

We plan to go back to explore a few islands that we missed due to the weather. Of course with over 350 islands in the Exuma chain, we are bound to miss a few. These are still some of the prettiest, closest and least visited islands that we have found. I guess that it is good that the soil on these islands is too thin for farming or they would have been populated centuries ago.

Weather, Weather everywhere and no one knows what to expect, least of all, the weathermen.

Today's forecast was great, 10 knot breeze out of the Southeast and a few scattered showers. Here we sat off of Thunderball Grotto in a blinding thunderstorm with 30 to 40 knots of wind. We could hardly see the boat 50 yards east of us. We had a lot of lightening and 3" of rain. No let up was in sight. We were in a very deep low pressure area, the lowest since the last hurricane.

Another low pressure area south of Cuba was threatening the Bahamas. Cruisers were advised to delay any sailing further south. We were within 10 miles of our planned southernmost anchorage and had had a great time, so maybe now was a good time to head north to Nassau and back to the states.

Out of the over 350 islands, we have left a few for next year and the years after that. Even less than perfect weather can't take the fun and adventure out of these islands.

Gaining an understanding of and appreciation for the Bahamians that live on and love these islands, makes the whole experience so much better. We have made many new friends this year and met a number of friends from previous years and other cruises. There is a lot of camaraderie among cruisers here in the islands. It is a great lifestyle to experience.

Black Point, Great Guana Cay, Exuma Cays, Bahamas

We were sitting in a blinding rainstorm contemplating the trip back home. The storm cleared, the sun came out and the wind dropped to a nice breeze. We still had time to sail south to Black Point, a pretty anchorage with palm lined white sand beaches, and 'Lorenes', the best restaurant in the Exumas. Black Point is the second largest town in the Exumas, probably about 400 people. The children are all friendly and greet you with 'Welcome to Black Point'. There are 2 grocery stores (each about the size of your living room) and 3 restaurants (typical night might be 10 customers).

We ate cracked conch dinners for our last evening with Tari and Jim Crowley, who we had been cruising with for a little over a month. We have become the best of friends and will miss cruising further south with them. We said our goodbyes in the morning and headed north. The first night we anchored off of MacDuff's on Norman's Cay and went in for a hamburger. The next day we sailed around the Yellow Banks and on to Nassau, arriving in another blinding rain storm.

Now for the adventure of getting home. Last year our scariest experience was 10 miles off the Florida coast. We were hoping for a smoother return this year.

After Nassau, we headed northwest up the Northwest Channel towards the Great Bahama Banks. Weather predictions were for 10 knots out of the southwest - perfect for a beam reach up the channel. Actual weather was 15 knots out of the northwest, right where we needed to go. We bucked the waves and tacked back and forth across the channel. Our planned stop had been to anchor on the banks and sail on to North Cat Cay the following day. Time for an alternate plan. Chub Cay in the Berry Islands is a popular spot but would provide no shelter from the Northwest wind and waves. We worked our way into the east end of Frazier Hog Cay into a small channel and anchored for the night. A beautiful sunset was soon followed by swarms of mosquitoes from the island's mangrove swamps. We installed our screens and resolved the problem.

The next day was a 15 hour sail up to Northwest Light and across the Great Bahama Banks. The wind dropped to zero and the Banks became a sea of glass. A perfect window to watch the scattered fish and coral pass under us in 12 to 14 feet of clear water. We spent much of the day admiring the changing underwater landscape. We arrived at Cat Cay about 9:30 pm and anchored in the dark.

No Name Harbor, Key Biscayne, Florida

The next morning we took on fuel at Cat Cay and then made our way through the zig zag opening in the coral reef between North Cat and Gun Cays and started our sixth Gulf Stream crossing. This time Mother Nature was kind to us, no hair raising adventures and we caught 2 Dolphin (the fish). We anchored that night in No Name Harbor, in Key Biscayne off of Miami. It is always good to get back. Back to working telephones and contact with family and friends.

The trip was great again. The colors of the water are breathtaking, the snorkeling is excellent, and just traveling around is awesome. Traveling this way is quite challenging. We are ready to go back again.

Dockside Marina, Marathon, Florida - Again

We were in Marathon, Florida, in the middle of the Florida Keys,again, monitoring all the weather forecasts waiting to make our long push north. When departing the Florida Keys for Florida's West Coast there are no protected anchorages within a day's sail. So, we have to sail 180 nm (207 statute miles). At a speed of 5 knots, that would take 36 hours, from Marathon to Venice, which is about half way up the Florida west coast. Once we depart, there are only a few places that we can take refuge if wind and/or wave conditions are too bad.

An old mariner's saying, "The only weather that you can control is your departing weather." Or another version is "The only weather you can control is whether you depart." So here we sit. The weather forecasts were not bad, but they were definitely far from good. The forecast called for 10 to 15 knot winds, which usually means that it will blow 20 knots. The forecast was for 10 knot winds and it was blowing 19 knots. The sea was forecast from 3 to 6 foot waves, plus rain, thunderstorms and waterspouts. Waterspouts are tornadoes on the water. Put these together and it can make for a very long 36 hour trip, especially on a moonless night.

So each day was a decision - do we leave the protection of Marathon and head North under less than favorable conditions, or do we delay for another day or 2 or 3. Decisions, decisions.

After the big hop to Venice, it is a one day trip to Tampa Bay and Windancer's home slip. It takes 3 to 5 days to unload the boat, clean her and put her to bed for the next 6 to 8 months.

Another adventure is close to over and although the weather didn't cooperate, we had a great time in the Keys and the Bahamas. Where to next year? And the years to come? This brings to mind the Mark Twain quote: "Years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bow lines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

Maybe next year we will venture further south and east in the Bahamas to Cat Island, Rum Cay, San Salvador, Long Island, and the Jimentos Cays. After that there are the Ragged Islands, the Turks and the Caicos Islands in the Bahamas. That would take us to the gateway to the Leeward Islands (Porto Rico, the Virgin Islands, etc.), which lead to the Windward Islands, across the Caribbean to South America. Well time and tide waits for no man - so we will do what we can, while we can.

A Father's Day to Remember (aka Mother Natures Last Chance).

After 10 days waiting in the middle of the Florida Keys for a break in the weather, it looked like Father’s Day would be the first opportunity to sail across Florida Bay and up the west coast of Florida to Venice. Venice is one day south of our destination of Tampa Bay.

6:30 am Father’s Day Morning – Light winds, mild seas and no weather on the radar. The forecast sounded perfect, so we cast off for our planed 30 to 35 hour sail to Venice. Our departure was uneventful as we sailed north from the Keys across Florida Bay toward Cape Sable. A 42-foot ketch heading for a rendezvous in the Shark River was in front of us and slowly pulling away

The ocean allows you to glimpse some of her treasures if you keep a constant vigil. Father’s Day was such a day. Crossing Florida Bay a brown spot about 4 feet across appeared 5 feet from the boat. Up pops a large loggerhead turtle on his way to the Dry Tortugas. He looked us over as we did him and as quickly as he had appeared, he disappeared. Within the next half hour, I saw a few more Loggerheads. Then it was the Dolphins turn to play and jump. A couple of times during this trip they have put on a show for us. The Flying Fish are startled by our passing craft and skitter across the surface until launched airborne with the help of a wave. The many varied sea birds – seagulls, pelicans, frigate birds – all are interesting to watch. We saw a new technique by a seagull. He followed a pelican and when the pelican hit the water to capture a fish, the seagull landed on the back of the pelican’s head, holding his head underwater. The tactic seemed to be that in the struggle to breath, the pelican would release the wounded fish and the gull would scoop up lunch and fly off. Interesting.

Back to the trip north: The wind started out from the south, which matched the forecast of south to southeast at 10 knots. The wind began to clock around to the southwest and built to 15 knots. The increase in wind brought lumpy seas and white caps. No sweat – the waves were coming from our stern quarter and were moving faster than we were. The waves would catch our stern and push it around, then catch our bow and push it the other way. As each wave rolled under the boat, she heeled to one side and then the other. It was like being in a slow motion Tilt-A-Whirl. Not violent, just a constant up and down – turn and heel to port then turn and heel to starboard.

Options for getting off the Tilt-A-Whirl? We could head for the only anchorage in this part of Florida – the Little Shark River. It is located in the Everglades and noted for its natural beauty. But, it is the rainy season and local sailors told us that the mosquitoes are so thick they completely cover your screens. Many cruisers anchor a mile or so off shore in an east wind to avoid the mosquitoes. But, we have a southwest wind and would have no protection from the waves unless we went up river. Driving the boat up river and anchoring in these mosquito-infested conditions didn’t sound inviting. It sounded like something out of “The African Queen”. Well, we figured the wind could drop back down to the predicted 10 knots after sunset, so we decided to sail on as planned.

We sailed north past the ‘Ten Thousand Islands’ area of southwest Florida and up to the Cape Romano Light. The sun was setting through the gathering clouds to the west as the first signs of civilization appeared to the northeast – Marco Island and the lights of its tall buildings. We listened to NOAA to get a current weather update. They were calling for thunderstorms to form off shore and move inland over two counties, but we did not know where those counties were. Our charts do not list Florida county names. Well, it was too late to worry about it. Now there were no safe anchorages within 40 miles of our position, that could be approached after dark, unless you had considerable local knowledge.

As we continued north, a few small thunderstorms popped up to the West and we zigged and zagged to avoid them as best we could. It got wet and windy, but nothing too bad.

As we approached the Naples area, we were about five miles off shore and a 16-mile long thunderstorm developed to the west, moving east toward us and the coast. We altered course to the northeast, hoping to run closer to the shore and get north of the storm before it closed in. We ran northeast as fast as we could, but the storm kept building and closing in. We were about 2 miles off shore and were running out of room and options.

The night was moon lit to the east, but to the west was a black curtain of rain punctuated with bolts of lightening. Mother Nature ran her squeeze play and we were trapped. If we continued north along the coast, we would be in the storm for 8 miles – another hour and a half. We elected to turn west and head straight through the storm, which appeared on the radar to be about 2 miles wide.

We drove west toward the black wall. When we hit the initial wall of water, we could not see beyond the cockpit. We couldn’t see the front of the boat. We huddled behind the windscreen and its small cover called the Dodger and monitored our progress on the radar and remote instrument readout. There was no sense in standing at the helm, the rain was so severe that you couldn’t read the instruments a foot in front of you.

We pushed on into the belly of the beast. It was pitch black with an occasional blinding flash of intense white light followed immediately by a bone-rattling clap of thunder. It is a strange feeling having a 50-foot aluminum mast sticking up out of an otherwise flat sea while in the middle of a thunderstorm. The radar started to show a hole in the backside of the storm and we headed for it. The rain slowed and finally we came out the backside to see the moon and stars again. It was 11:00 at night and we still had another 15 hours to sail to Venice.

A few more showers came by and the wind remained at 15-20 knots from the southwest as we made our way past Fort Myers, Sanibel Island, Boca Grande and finally to Venice.

Venice and the Crow’s Nest Marina was the final hurdle. The docks at the marina are in a narrow channel just inside the breakwater. Docking here with a swift cross current is always a challenge. We have seen many boats try to negotiate the currents while docking and slam into the pilings or the dock. The tide charts predicted some current, but not too bad. The wind was up to 26 knots as we approached the breakwater and took down our sails. The waves had built and were smashing against the rock jetties, spraying water 20 feet in the air. If we headed straight into the jetty opening, the waves would turn us right and left as they hit our stern and bow. We headed for the opening at an angle so the waves hit us square on the stern and were not turning us. Sue watched for the next big set of waves, as we wanted to time our arrival at the opening with the smallest waves. Once inside the opening we would still have the current and 26 knots of cross wind to contend with while docking.

We hit the opening, spun the boat 45 degrees right and sailed into calm water. In another hundred yards, as we approached the dock, the trees blocked the wind down to a whisper, the current eased and we slid into our slip looking like veterans. Tired and happy to be stopped.

Last year we caught a storm off of Miami in the daylight, but with boat problems. This year it was at night in the pitch black. Chalk it up to experience and confidence building. Will Sue do another overnight sail? Ask her. My bet is that she will plan every possible way to get to our destinations without sailing through the night.

The following morning the wind and sea conditions were still bad, but from here we had another option, the Intracoastal Waterway. Other than some heavy rain, we had a very smooth and enjoyable trip up to and across Tampa Bay to our slip in Bahia Beach Marina.

Windancer has been put to bed till next year’s adventures. We hope to see you there.

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