It was all very surreal. There we were, a mere two weeks ago, driving away from Wild Horses as we started our trek north in our rental car. We had only spent a handful of nights away from our boat, our home, in the last two years. Now we were embarking on a four-month trip back to Canada that would have us living fully on land. No more slight swaying of the hull as it rolls against the waves. No dinghy rides to shore. No more making our own water from the salty seas. Weather watching becomes more about staying dry than about staying safe. A new, but familiar, adventure awaited us in Canada. The drive north was easy and, before we knew it, we were at the Canadian border at Kingston. It was a fun conversation with the border guard as we explained our South Carolina license plates and our two-year absence. He briefly eyed the very full car trunk, and our little Ocean in the back seat, surrounded by even more gear, and waved us through with a shake of his head. I am sure he was thinking “these two cannot be making this story up!” We were dizzy with excitement in reuniting with Mike’s parents that same day, Sunday June 9th, and then with my parents the very next day. All the extra work, costs, sweating (38 degrees Celsius in Florida!!!), worry and travel to get to this point was worth it. We knew immediately it was the right decision for us to point our boat’s hull north for hurricane season and not back south to Grenada. We needed to come home. It is now two weeks after we crossed back into Canada and we are very much settled into our temporary land life. We are staying at my brother’s beautiful country home just north of Belleville. It is a Smart-enabled home so lights turn on as we walk into a room, and off again when we leave. Same thing for door locks. The temperature is custom-regulated and we make demands to Google for everything that we need. It is a bit of a culture shock for our little crew! We even have wheels to get around to visit family and friends. My mom offered her car to us for as long as we need it. Amazing! We are visiting my parents quite often and getting to Kingston once a week to visit Mike’s parents. Every moment is a joy and it is just going to increase throughout the summer. After so much time in third world countries, we had a long list of things to buy, most of which either wasn’t available in the Caribbean or was astronomically priced. Back in Canada, and a purchasing system we are familiar with, we have found great deals on cell phones and a new laptop (which has been limping along since Grenada), boat spares and new clothes. We have also taken care of most of our “necessary” appointments (covid shots, new health cards, dentist cleanings). Soon, we will be extra flush with time and will start to arrange visits with more family and also with our friends. This blog will take a short hiatus while we have our summer in Canada, but when it starts back up in October, we will be taking you along as we go aboard Wild Horses after her first long, hot summer in Florida. Did our mould prevention efforts do the trick? Despite our efforts to seal off the boat’s thruhulls, have any pests made Wild Horses their home? Did any of the heavy rains or lightening strikes cause any damage? And then there is our poor, disabled engine. Our mechanic will be hard at work to get it back into shape and ready for another winter in the Bahamas, an effort he estimates may take up to six weeks. We are unsure how all of this will unfold, but we will take on that part of our adventure as we have all the others. We are now well-versed in finding workable solutions for puzzling problems, diving into tasks or journeys that seem a bit daunting, and taking real time to share stories and the beauty of life with those around us that really matter. We have learned the art of standing still to appreciate the good moments. Like these days 😊. See you in October! Want to see where we have been over the last two years? Click on the button below!
When we first arrived at Green Cove Springs Marina, we anchored in the Marina’s harbour with the plan of getting ourselves oriented and ready for Wild Horses to be hauled out of the water. You see, none of this was in our original plan for our first five years living aboard. No, the plan was to stay in the Caribbean for several years. We thought that any trips back home would be done by either Mike or myself, never together, so that we wouldn’t have to figure out the logistics of getting Ocean on a plane or finding a pet sitter. What we didn’t realize back then was how much we prefer to stick together, all three of us, as a family. Hence, the new plan of coming back to North America after only two years. But we were unprepared for this decision so there has been a bit of scrambling to figure it all out. We don’t have a home marina to go back to, we don’t have a car, we don’t have a land house. We loosely tied some ideas together before finalizing our decision but we knew we would have to figure out a lot of things in the moment. And we have. We figured out the ins and outs of our new marina (who to talk to, where to get things, etc), got our rental car, secured our storage unit, and explored the town. We felt fairly comfortable after a few days and knew pretty much how we were going to move forward. TOn Tuesday May 28, we asked the marina to move up our haul out day from Saturday June 1 to Wednesday May 29. They could easily accommodate us and asked that we immediately move Wild Horses to the wall in front of the “Haul Out Well” so that we could be the first boat hauled the next morning. No problem! Except, there was a problem. We weighed anchored as we normally do and Mike steered Wild Horses into the boat basin through the maze of moored boats. It all seemed so delightfully easy. Then our high-water temperature alarm began screaming. Huh? We were almost docked at the wall so continued the docking maneuver, even with the intense blaring of the alarm. Once docked, the engine was shut down. We secured the boat on the dock wall for the night and then checked for issues around the engine. There was no smoke and no burning smell. All engine parts looked normal. Oh, wait, except our coolant overflow bucket was completely empty. What? It was full before we weighed anchor. A quick look in the mixing elbow and, yikes, there was barely any coolant there. Somehow our engine lost all its coolant in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, one of the tasks we completed while anchored was to hire an engine mechanic. We thought he would be just giving the engine a once over but now realize there will be far more work required. He is a well-recommended marine mechanic and immediately he went to work diagnosing our alarm issue. The prognosis? Our heat exchanger has given up the ghost. This will be a big fix but the good news is that it is fixable. We have scheduled the mechanic to do the work in October, when we return to the boat. We will likely need to stay at Green Cove Springs for six weeks (four weeks longer than our original plan) in order to get the engine ship shape. Then we will, once again, set off for the Bahamas. In the meantime, Wild Horses will remain safely on land. We have spent the last week getting her ready to spend her summer stored in “Canada Yard” baking under the hot Florida sun. She has been cleaned and waxed, the insides coated with mildew preventer, and roach traps set about the floor. All our stuff is in a climate controlled offsite storage unit to keep it all safe from mildew and boat smells. Our dinghy was cleaned spotless (this was no small feat for Mike!) as was our anchor. We also ran a “salt away” treatment through the engines for both Wild Horses and for our dinghy “Ocean Transport”. This was tough work with the days hitting 35 degrees and the overnight low never going below 22 degrees. And, yes, we lived on the boat while we worked on it in the boatyard. We are now done all our work and are very tired. At 6pm yesterday, the crew of Wild Horses squeezed into our packed rental car and drove 2 hours north to Georgia to the hotel we reserved for the night. In three days, we will be back home in Canada. We are three very happy and excited sailors 😊. What is next for us? Click the button below to see where we plan on sailing next.
We finally arrived at Green Cove Springs Marina last Wednesday May 22. This will be the last stop for Wild Horses for several months. We will have the boat hauled out on June 1, prepare her for a hot Florida summer and then leave her be as we drive back to Canada for a much-needed visit with family. I know what you are thinking – Wild Horses arrived at Green Cove Springs almost a week ago and I am only posting about it now? Yes, yes, yes. It has been a very busy few weeks for us. Since arriving, we have:
But, let’s back up a bit. I am skipping over the last half of our trip to Green Cove Springs and some of the best parts of the ICW! Just over a week ago, we left Titusville and continued our way north. On this part of the ICW (Titusville to St. Augustine), there are very few bridges and even fewer that need to open for us. Not having to call bridge after bridge means that we have more time to look around and soak up the beautiful landscapes that border the ICW. It is a twisty snake-like route that takes us through quiet mangroves (along the Indian River) and in the heart of busy cities (Daytona). And the dolphins. They appear everywhere and all the time, and thankfully so. They offer a wonderful distraction from the constant motoring. One of our last stops on the ICW before we headed west to Jacksonville was the lovely town-like city of St. Augustine. This is easily our favourite stop on the ICW. Why? It mixes old world charm and a fun downtown vibe. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States and it does a great job creating a historic downtown area that embraces tourists. Cobblestone streets, boutiques, distilleries, cafes and tours. There is something for everyone and the best part is that all of it is just a stone’s throw from our boat. Oh, wait, did I mention dog-friendly? Ocean was welcomed everywhere in St. Augustine. The three of us shopped together, walked everywhere together, did a rum tasting together (um, well, Ocean was there but not actually doing the rum tasting. She is underage!). And, of course, we dined together. The best was the Barley Republic Restaurant where we could actually order a meal for her off the menu. Plus, she was offered the best seat in the house, right beside the Hostess Table so that everyone could greet her as they arrived at the restaurant. So much fun! We stayed four glorious days at St. Augustine and, truly, it was tough to leave. Our only solace was knowing that we would be able to visit again next fall on our way south to the Bahamas. Now, however, we had to keep moving. Our last night on the ICW was spent at Sisters Creek, which is just a little northeast of Jacksonville. In the morning, we started down the St. Johns River. This is a busy waterway for cargo ships and we did see a few as we made our way, first, to Jacksonville, and then onward to Green Cove Springs. The weather was lovely, making the trip an easy one for us. Until we got to Green Cove Springs. Yeesh. The wind picked up just as we tried to grab one of the mooring balls in front of the marina. Big wind coupled with a mooring ball attachment that just wouldn’t budge, well, we lost a boat hook, one of our headphones that we use for anchoring and I have a lovely collection of bruises on my arm. 100% yeesh. Anchoring Wild Horses went much, much better 😊. So, there we are. Anchored and preparing Wild Horses for our haul out. It is a super busy time for us, made even more challenging with the high heat and having to use the dinghy to shuttle our gear off the boat. After we haul the boat out on June 1, we will have another week of cleaning up the boat and having it ready for a long summer of Florida heat. We have several busy, hot, and challenging days ahead but we are buoyed by the reward of seeing all our family and friends back in Canada in just a few weeks. Bliss 😊! Want to know where we are anchored today? Click the button below.
I will admit that when we decided to make the return trip to the US, I said “whew”. In terms of travel, all I could think about was how we would get some great sailing in the Bahamas and then we would plan a comfortable Gulf Stream Crossing, followed by a few weeks of easy motoring in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW). I felt we had earned a bit of an easy run, motoring along and enjoying the inner coastal sights, including the bottlenose dolphins that frequent the ICW in Florida. Great sailing in the Bahamas? Check. A comfortable Gulf Stream Crossing? Check. Easy motoring in the ICW? Yes but… Then we went aground. Ugh. No, we didn’t exactly go aground in the ICW but turning off the ICW (and the “Bob423” navigation tracks we follow religiously). We went aground trying out a new anchorage in Jensen Beach, which was the first anchorage for us after leaving Lake Worth. Reviews of the anchorage in Navionics were split between “This is a lovely anchorage” and “Don’t anchor here. Charts are wrong!”. So why try an anchorage with this kind of review? It was a good staging anchorage for us and had easy shore access for Ocean. We rationalized that we would approach the anchorage slowly, while carefully watching our depths and we would bail out if anything looked to “skinny” for our 1.7 metre draft. Well, it didn’t quite work out like that. The depths went from 2.5 metres to 1 metre in mere seconds. And the charts were extremely wrong. We went aground right on a sounding showing that the depth should be 2.4 metres. For those new to charts, “soundings” are actual depth measurements taken at low tide. Soundings are generally pretty accurate except for two reasons: The first is at low-low tide (when the tide might go lower than normal due to a full moon or a new moon). The second? Shoaling. Ah, we have a winner. Jensen Beach is adjacent to the St. Lucie inlet which moves the sandy bottom around with each tidal change coming and going from the Atlantic Ocean. Shoaling. Oops. Okay, now we are aground. Out come the tactics. We first try to rev the engine (64 horsepower Westerbeke) in order to maneuver our way out. Nope. Next, knowing that we have a strong westerly wind, out come both sails. The hope is to have Wild Horses leaned enough to one side to release her keel and float off. Nope. Okay, could we perhaps wait for high tide and let the flooding waters lift her keel? Well, that would be several more hours. The only answer was to call for a tow. Thankfully, we bought insurance for this. We have a membership to Tow Boat US. We went aground at 3:45pm, tried our own tactics until 4:15pm, then I made the call to Tow Boat US. The Tow Boat operator was at our boat in 20 minutes and had us unstuck 10 minutes after that. But that’s not all! He then escorted us through the shallow waters to a nearby mooring field. He only left the scene once we were attached to the mooring ball. By 5:15pm, we were enjoying cocktails in our cockpit. So how much did all of this cost us? The annual insurance to Tow Boat US is $250 CAD. That’s it. No additional cost for the on-site towing or escort to the mooring ball. There are no exclusions, excessive questions or delays. Just awesome service from an awesome company. Best money we ever spent on insurance. For me, I would never do the ICW without Tow Boat US. Ever. The next morning, we moved along to Vero Beach and spent 6 wonderful days at anchor, enjoying great food, shopping, the nearby dog park, and chatting with our fellow cruisers. It was a great stop to rest and relax. By last Monday (May 13), we were on the move again. First to Eau Gallie for a night and then to Titusville. But what is the fun of motoring along in good weather? No, about half an hour from our planned anchorage in Titusville (beside the Max Brewer bridge), the weather alerts sounded off on our phones. A squall was making its way across central Florida and we were right in its track. Within 15 minutes, the sky darkened to a menacing grey and the winds started to amp up. Mike immediately made the call that Wild Horses needed to turn around and go south. We were minutes from our anchorage but also minutes from the bridge. If the wind increased any more, we could be in danger of hitting the bridge. Turning around was the right call. We motored back on our tracks, into a part of the ICW where there was no traffic, no bridges and enough space to allow us to maneuver without going aground. The wind hit 45 knots. We were leaned over hard, with salty waves slamming our starboard side. Heavy rain meant that we had to rely entirely on our instruments. Wild Horses and Mike are a well-oiled machine and they handled the conditions beautifully. Our only concern was the lightning. One wayward bolt hitting Wild Horses would not just mean that our electronics would be disabled but our engine as well. I believe a few prayers may have been uttered during the ordeal. A half hour later, it was all over. The lightning tracked east, away from us. The rain stopped and the wind died. We motored to our anchorage with calm seas. The only sign of our harrowing time fighting the squall were our frayed nerves and shaky legs. That was just a few hours ago. Tonight, we will have a nice dinner, sleep well and then be up, bright and early, ready to move along to Daytona Beach. Hmmmm, I wonder what adventure the ICW will hand to us tomorrow….? 😉. Enjoying the blog? Want to know where we are right now? Click here!
For the last few weeks, we have been carefully eyeing the weather for a possible window to make our run to the tiny island of Bimini on the outer edge of the western Bahamas and then across the Gulf Stream to Florida. Bimini is the first Bahamian island that we visited on our trip south and it holds a special place in our hearts. This time around it would be our last Bahamian island, at least for the next six months. After waiting out some strong winds over the weekend, we could finally see the weather window we were hoping for. Starting Tuesday April 30th, we had a forecast that called for good wind for a sail to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands, then calm seas for an overnight stop on the Mackie Shoal and, finally, by Thursday we would be in Bimini. Even better, Friday May 3rd was looking ideal for a fast sail from Bimini to West Palm Beach, Florida. Our cruising permit for the Bahamas was set to expire on May 14 so the timing was perfect. Our departure from New Providence was wonderful. The wind was in our favour and several of our dock mates came out to say goodbye and to wish us safe travels. This is one of the things we love most about this sailing gig. Everyone we meet becomes new friends. It is a strangely small community, geographically spread across the world but, as soon as you meet someone, the sharing begins. Cruisers just love to help each other out and to pass along whatever tip or tricks they have learned along the way. We all seem to know that cruising guides, navigation apps and Facebook only tell part of the story and each one of us has to piece together our own understanding of a passage or anchorage or gear or whatever. First hand knowledge from another cruiser is gold. In fact, the most recent example of this sharing happened in New Providence. We were rafted up with “Cookie Monster” a beautiful monohull owned by a guy from New Jersey. For fifteen years, he has been storing his boat at Green Cove Springs (where we will be storing our boat for the first time this year) and he gladly shared great tips for summarizing the boat. We are used to winterizing a boat but this “summerizing” thing is its own beast! Interestingly enough, we had first heard of “Cookie Monster” through a cruiser named Rooster that we had met in the Raggeds. Yup, “Cookie Monster” and Rooster. These are our peeps 😊. The trip to Chub Cay in the Berry Islands was a fun motor sail made even more fun when we caught our first ever Mahi Mahi. Barry from Caretta had given us some great info about fishing gear over the past week and it really paid off. Even more fun was that we caught the Mahi using an old lure of my dad’s. Sometimes it really does take a village 😉. We only spent one quick night at Chub Cay and were very happy to move on the next morning. Chub Cay offers a wide-open anchorage with good holding but it was very rolly the night we stayed there. We had a strong southeastern wind forcing the sea around the island’s southwestern tip and it caused the ocean swell to slam at us broadside. Thankfully a fellow cruiser stopped by (more of that cruiser sharing that we love) and suggested we set up a swell bridle to reduce the roll. It worked perfectly and gave us a chance to sleep well. We were up fairly early on Wednesday morning for a long trip to the middle of nowhere. Well, not exactly. We were headed for the Mackie Shoal. This is a known sandbar along the Bahama Bank where, in settled conditions, cruisers can drop anchor for the night to break up the 82 nautical mile trip from Chub Cay to Bimini. It is a wonderous treat. There is no visible land as far as you can see. Just stars, our boat buddy Caretta and that beautiful blue Bahamian water. Thursday morning, we weighed anchor just before dawn and were underway to Bimini. Last time we were in Bimini we stayed at the Bimini Blue Marina (highly recommended!). This time, we opted to anchor off the western shore. The next day was to be our Gulf Stream crossing day so we wanted to easily weigh anchor at first light rather than try to read the shallow water at Bimini’s narrow inlet. We were excited to be headed to Florida but sad that this would be our farewell to our fabulous friends on Caretta. We will be pointing our bow north to make our way to Green Cove Springs, Florida while Caretta is going south to the Florida Keys and then on to their home port in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We have sailed together for about 15 months now so the whole crew of Wild Horses (Ocean included) is feeling a bit melancholy about moving along alone. All is not lost though! We have plans to meet up again in the Fall and to spend next winter in the Bahamas together. Yay! On Friday morning (May 3rd), we waited for the sun to make its appearance and then quickly took Ocean into shore for her morning business trip. Next was to weigh anchor and get the sails out. The seas were calm and the wind light, making for a very comfortable journey. And we were fast! The Gulf Stream gave us an extra 3 to 4 knots most of the day, allowing us to arrive at the Lake Worth Inlet a few hours earlier than planned. We were finally back in North American waters after leaving Grenada on October 28th. We are now looking forward to an easy and slow trip up the ICW to Green Cove Springs for our planned haul out of Wild Horses. We are targeting our arrival there for the 3rd week of May. We have a Garmin InReach that keeps our tracks up to the minute (Recreation Plan). Check out where we are right now by clicking on the button below.
After spending the last few months kicking around the Exumas, we have finally moved along to the island of New Providence. Our Bahamas 3-month cruising permit expires on May 14 and our move to New Providence marks the beginning of our staged departure from the Bahamas. We are currently attached to a private dock on the south of the island (Nassau is at the top of the island) waiting out some strong winds. Once the weather is favourable, we will head towards the Mackie Shoal and then onto Bimini, before we make the leap across the Gulf Stream to Florida. When we left O’Brien’s Cay and the wonderful “Aquarium”, we sailed to Shroud Cay, just 28 nautical miles to the north. We were here just one year ago and had loved its quiet remoteness. This time around the anchorage is jam-packed full. Yikes! There are at least five superyachts, several dozen charter boats and a bunch of us cruisers mixed in between. Plus, new mooring balls that take up some of the prime anchoring spots. No need to worry though, there is lots of room for everyone. And we are still able to anchor close enough to “The Dinghy Route”. This is the real reason we wanted to come back to Shroud Cay. We had enjoyed it last year and were excited to get to show Caretta this little bit of entertainment that they had missed on their way south. The dinghy route is a narrow, twisty and turtle-filled natural waterway that takes you from the calm “Sound” side of the island, to the sporty Atlantic side. Using the flooding tide, you dinghy through mangroves and along sandstone banks, with turtles, stingrays and an occasional shark swimming alongside. Finally you arrive at the fast current-driven spin cycle called “the washing machine” on the Atlantic side. Our little 15 and 20 horsepower dinghy motors can do little to fight against the current, making our landing on the shoreline more like bumper cars making their final turn. Although the dinghy landing is fast and rough (due to the strong current), the view is not. We have a beautifully long, sandy, white beach laid out in front of us, and edged with that stunning blue Bahamian water. Not only that, we have beer, beach chairs and a sandbar. Time for some relaxing in paradise! Don't worry, Ocean got in on the fun! Click the buttons below to see her doing her best to "try" to swim at the sandbar and also how she relaxes after a big day at the beach. After a few days at Shroud Cay, we decided to weigh anchor last Sunday morning and do a quick little motor-sail jump to Highbourne Cay. A strong east wind was forecasted for the upcoming days and although Highbourne Cay is not ideal for big weather, it thankfully provides enough protection from moderate wind and swell. We might be bumped around a bit but it wouldn’t be entirely uncomfortable. While the winds were still light, we opted to dinghy over to Allen’s Cay and check out the iguanas that freely roam about the tiny island. Just as they had last year when we were there, a few iguanas immediately came out to see what we were doing. This time, we came prepared with some lettuce and celery to entice them closer. As soon as the food came out, we had about a dozen iguanas coming towards us. They were definitely not shy once they knew they would be fed! The first bit of strong winds arrived on Tuesday and although it was comfortable enough on the boat, taking Ocean ashore in the big waves was definitely not so comfy. With even stronger winds arriving on the weekend, we decided to email our friends Carolyn and Nick to see if they had any space available on their private dock on the southern coast of New Providence Island. They quickly confirmed that they had space for both Caretta and Wild Horses. Yay! On Wednesday morning, we weighed anchor and made the 40 nautical mile trip west to New Providence. On the way, we tried out a few new lures and actually got some bites. One got away but a Blue Runner was pulled aboard and will be used for bait the next time we fish (they are apparently edible but not very tasty). We arrived at the private dock by late afternoon, just in time for the daily happy hour with our hosts and a few other sailors staying on the dock. The camaraderie here is why we loved being here last year and why we were excited to return. Everyone attends the happy hour and brings a little appetizer and their favourite beverage. And then we chat! At the dock this time around were four sailors from Spain, a couple from Florida, a solo sailor from Texas plus Wild Horses and Caretta. We had great conversations with our dock mates, discussing travel plans, favourite cruising grounds, fishing (we need to step up our game!) and just about everything else under the sun. Andy (the solo sailor) even brought out his guitar and sang a few tunes for us. And Ocean? Well, she got to hang around the two other dogs belonging to other sailors plus Yaegar, our host's dog. Every evening was great fun! Since we had a few days at the dock, we decided to rent a car and tour around New Providence. We got a few provisions, had an awesome lunch at the highly recommended Chives restaurant and saw a lot of the island. Even better, we managed to find a great tackle shop near Nassau so Mike and I could buy some better fishing gear. Hopefully it helps get some fish on Wild Horses! Although we would love to stay longer, we have a great weather window opening up this week that will allow us to comfortably cross the Gulf Stream. We will leave the private dock mid-week and plan to make our crossing to Florida on Friday. Click on the link below to check out where we have sailed so far!
Heading south in 2022 and early 2023, we missed a lot. Yes, we stopped here and there to smell the roses but the journey to Grenada was long and it was just impossible to see everything we wanted to see. Plus, we had distractions. Not only were we new to being liveaboards, to managing new countries and to sailing in big oceans, well, stuff on the boat kept on breaking. ☹ But we learned from all of that. Besides getting our liveaboard sea legs, we learned that we prefer to linger. Hanging out in a great location for weeks at a time, absorbing all the little nuances offered to us from nature, the culture and, of course, the people is our happy place. Oh, and our boat has behaved of late and not given us any extra worry or jobs. Knock on wood that this blissful streak continues until we haul her out in Green Cove Springs, Florida. With our pace wonderfully slowed down, we are getting to just a few cays in the Exumas but we are enjoying them at depth. We are breathing in our freedom to go snorkeling one day, hiking the next and maybe just chilling on the boat after that. And when the weather looks good for moving on, well, we do just that. At Black Point Settlement, we strolled around the town every day and checked out the nearby blowhole. That is a definite “must do” if you happen to be there during high tide and the wind is raging from the east! On one of our town walkabouts, we stopped and chatted with the gentleman looking after the Reverse Osmosis (R.O.) system for the island. Just like anywhere else, access to clean water is critical. Here they desalinate the ocean water using a reverse osmosis system just like we do on the boat (ours is a Rainman), only their version is huge! Click the button to check out Ocean enjoying some free R.O. water from the town tap. Most of our past week has been at Staniel Cay. This has been a great snorkeling stop for us. First, we went to Thunderball Grotto which was the location of the James Bond movie “Thunderball”. We enjoyed this last year and to do it again this year was just as fun. Still wanting more snorkeling, we decided to do something a little different and checked out a few dive spots south of Staniel. The current was strong and the waves sporty but the snorkeling was great. Thankfully no sharks were spotted during our snorkeling adventures but we did see plenty at the dock! One of the best things about the Bahamas is its diversity of experiences. At Black Point, there is a town with groceries and restaurants. Same thing at Staniel Cay but here it is also littered with super yachts and resort dwelling tourists. Today we moved just three hours north in the Exumas to O’Brien’s Cay and we are back in total remoteness. There are no stores or locals, just clear blue water, pure white sand, snorkeling and, oh yes, more superyachts. It is an odd feeling to be sharing space with these big boats! An 80 foot yacht decked out with every toy known to man sitting adjacent to little old Wild Horses. My, my, my. A ”must do” at O’Brien’s Cay is snorkeling the “Aquarium”. This is an incredible dive spot that gives you the sensation as though you are inside a tropical fish tank. Fish are everywhere, especially if you bring along some bread or oatmeal to entice them a bit closer. Even a turtle got in on the action. The whole scene was mesmerizing! How do you top that? Well, you add a beautiful sunset enjoyed from the cockpit of your boat as you quietly say goodbye to another incredible day. We are grateful for every minute of it. Enjoying the blog and want to see exactly where we are right now? Click the button below!
Although Ocean is always suited up for a swim, some of her activities require some extra gear to get the most fun out of everything she does. Here is her Top Five list of “Must Have” Activity Gear for the Cruising Dog #1 Sunglasses These great sunglasses protect Ocean’s eyes from the saltwater spray when we take her around in the dinghy. Oh, and they look pretty cool too! #2 Dog Ramps Ocean has two! She has a sturdy one that she uses for swimming off the stern of Wild Horses. That plank won’t work for snorkeling off the dinghy so for that we purchased a Solstice PupPlank. Hot Tip – It also helps us get back in the dinghy too 😉. #3 Hiking Boots Trails are not always sandy and smooth! Our hike to the Pool Cave at Farmer’s Cay was full of sharp coral rocks. We needed our running shoes and Ocean needed her hiking boots. Problem solved!
#4 Fitted Lifejacket Ocean wears her lifejacket whenever she swims off the boat or off the dinghy. Styling as always! #5 Paddleboard This is one piece of gear that we haven’t yet purchased. Thankfully our buddy boat Caretta let Ocean borrow one of theirs. Ocean isn’t quite in love with this piece of gear yet but give her time! What else? Our time in the Exumas hasn’t just been about Ocean. Her staff (aka Me, Mike and our sailing buddies on Caretta) have also enjoyed lots of activities in the Exumas. At Rudder Cay, we got in some great snorkeling. One of the highlights there is “The Musician”, a full-scale sculpture of a mermaid and a baby grand piano. This was an incredible gift to snorkelers by the illusionist David Copperfield, who owns the nearby island Musha Cay. In 2011, he commissioned the sculpture and then had it sunk in 15 feet of water as a surprise for anyone who happened upon it. These days, its location is well-known and snorkelers, like us, make sure to dive down and get a good look. We also took our dinghies over to the nearby Guana Cay to search for conch and see some of the underwater beauty of the area. It was a gorgeous place to snorkel and we were rewarded with several conchs for a feed later that night with our boat buddy Caretta. At Farmer’s Cay, we got a chance to hike to “Pool Cave”. This is a well-formed cave with dripping stalactites and mounds of stalagmites (both are formed calcium salt deposits) as well as a natural swimming pool. We have done a bit more hiking at Black Point Settlement, getting to see the Atlantic side of the island. And, yes, a few cool aquatic and land animals have crossed our path. Oh and we may have enjoyed a few good meals and a couple of drinks in between it all! Check out where we are today and where we are headed next!
Getting Through a Weekend of Severe SquallsWe had a doozy of a storm this past weekend in Georgetown. It was big. It was scary. But it was also a great reminder of the fortitude and generosity of our sailing community. All forecasters were calling for a bad storm hitting the Bahamas from Friday through to Sunday. We personally use Windy and Chris Parker for our weather checks but we also pay close attention to any other info we may receive from friends and other cruisers. PredictWind, Mr. Weatherman, The Weather Network, Windfinder. You name it, our eyes and ears are open. And all of them were in agreement that we would get slammed with strong winds, which would be even stronger in squalls. But Georgetown is a great protected anchorage for most weather conditions so we weren’t overly worried. We were ready for 40+ knot winds. Oh, wait. What about lightning during the squalls? Well, yeah. Lightning is a serious thing. A boat struck by lightning is immediately disabled. Everything electrical gets fried. All electronics, the engine, the lights, everything. Yeah, its bad. So obviously those of us who cruise full-time have strategies to avoid lightning, right? Umm, no. Not only can we do little to avoid being in an area that might have lightning but we can’t do anything to avoid actually being struck. Especially us sailboats with a big old lightning rod attached to our boats (aka the mast). People talk about lightning avoidance gear but it has two significant disadvantages. First, most of the gear available is expensive. Second, it doesn’t work. So, the working equation goes like this…masted sailboat + electrical storm = sitting duck. Yikes! The storm this past weekend was predicted to start overnight on Friday and continue through to Sunday morning, with the worst of the storm activity occurring overnight on Saturday. On the Friday morning, Wild Horses and Caretta (our buddy boat) went into Georgetown, a 10-minute dinghy ride across the Sound from our anchorage in front of Honeymoon beach. Barry from Caretta had a physio appointment in the morning and we had booked a rental car to get him and Andrea to the appointment, and me and Mike to an amazing wholesale food store near his appointment. Returning back to the dinghy dock, we knew that the wind had started to amplify and we could see that the waves in the Sound were huge. We arrived back at Wild Horses soaking wet from the dinghy ride. No worries, we were safely back on our boat and ready to hunker down for the night’s wind event. Everything not tied down was removed from our decks. The dinghy was lifted and secured. Our full enclosure was zipped up tight. Everything was secured inside the boat (the same as we do for passages) and we had our foul weather gear at the ready. The winds only got to 33 knots that night so we considered ourselves lucky. All in all, it was comfortable, and only marginally scary 😉. The next day, Saturday, the wind stayed strong with gusts to about 25 knots, with the expectation that conditions would deteriorate throughout the evening and overnight. Forecasters were wildly in disagreement over wind strength (anywhere from 20 knots to 55 knots) and the amount of rainfall (from 5mm to 70mm). The possibility of lightning was also in the mix by a few forecasters. It is never good when there is such wide variability in the forecasts. We just have no confidence in what lies before us. It was, however, the forecasted strong west wind that had us on high alert, as it meant that we would be pushed towards our lee shore. Not ideal, but we chose to not re-locate our boat to an eastern shore in Georgetown where many boats were anchored. We were confident in our anchor set and we didn’t want to be in amongst a whole bunch of other boats that could drag into us. With over 300 boats in the Georgetown anchorages, we were happy to be in one that contained only 3 boats. The winds started to pick up just before dusk. Then the growl of thunder in the distance. The sky began to darken and flashes of lightening could be seen in the distance. Within 20 minutes, the worst of the storm was raging all around us. The wind was strong (but never over 35 knots). Sheet lightning and ground strikes were abundant. Heavy rain blinded us from seeing more than 20 feet from our boat. And, then, as strong as the wind was from the southwest, we had a 180-degree wind shift to the northeast. Our anchor dislodged as our boat and all its chain sailed over top of it. Thankfully the anchor reset itself after dragging about 20 feet. Our neighbouring boats reported the same anchor dislodgment/resetting event. Then all the weather stopped. No more rain, no more lightning, no more wind. It was dead calm for 5 hours. When the wind did pick up again, in the overnight hours, it was short lived and it came without any drama. No rain, no lightning. The next morning, we listened intently to the regular Georgetown cruising community network on the VHF. Six boats in the surrounding anchorages had been struck by lightning. Offers of gear, mechanical and electrical expertise, and just “get your hands dirty” help poured in from the cruising community. Within a few days, all six disabled boats had some power brought back to their boats, thanks to the help of their fellow boaters. We were happy that Wild Horses and Caretta had fared well through the storm. Getting through strong weather events is never fun and coming out the other side safely and with no boat issues is always the goal. One more storm in our sailing portfolio. We gain confidence and knowledge with each one of them. And when all else fails, we know that the sailing community will be there to assist in any way they can. Thank goodness. Enjoying the blog? Please share with your friends!
Our last time in Georgetown, one year ago, seemed like a blip. We were here for two weeks but, for us, the vibe was very different. We were exhausted from constant travel, still trying to get our bearings on how to do this liveaboard thing and we were nervous about making the leap to the Caribbean. Our two weeks in Georgetown was spent stocking up, fueling up, and checking out the “you-have-to-do-this” stuff like the “Chat n’ Chill” beach and exploring the island by car. We did manage to snorkel and hike a wee bit but, truly, our minds were on weather windows, planning our route south and connecting with possible buddy boats for the trip. We were in deep focus mode. This go-around is very different. Our days are sloooooooooooow. We rarely wake up with plans, yet we seem to get everything done that needs to get done, whenever it gets done. Every two or three days we will take the salty trip across the bay in order to go to town for groceries or fuel but, otherwise, we are beaching it. Or hiking. Or both 😉. We are in deep chill mode. One of our favourite haunts these days is the north section of Stocking Island, where there are a choice of beaches, one to fit whatever mood we may be in. One of the first beaches there is Starfish Beach. It is home to Da’Sandbar, a tiny shack at the tip of the beach which attracts lots of tours boats bringing weekend travelers and tourists from the nearby Sandals Resort so they can get a taste of the islands. The beach is postcard perfect and you can have a cold Kalik or Sands beer while you swim, play volleyball or just enjoy the view from the lounge chairs. It is not uncommon to have music blasting away from anchored party boats. Ocean, our pup, always gets lots of attention here from the dog-loving tourists who are missing their pups back home. Around the corner from Starfish Beach is Flip Flop Beach. It is a quiet, little oasis where hardly anyone goes. We have heard that there are little pop-up parties on this beach but it is likely that only occurs during the heart of the season (January and February). Our only encounter during the past week was a young family mixing swimming along with a few home-schooling lessons. At this beach we can swim and relax, in the shade or in the sunshine. Total tranquil bliss. And when we feel like exploring? We can take a trail from either Starfish Beach or Flip Flop Beach and walk to the windward side of Stocking Island. The ocean roars on this coast. There is no swimming or snorkeling, just walking along the shoreline, taking in the beauty and force of the ocean being slammed by the eastern trade winds. We will likely stay in Georgetown another week while another cold front pushes through. We are happy to have calm, easy days and lots of access to several amenities. We are happy to be here 😊. Enjoying the blog? Please share with friends! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop us a line.
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AuthorVictoria is a hiker, dog-lover, blog writer and planner extraordinaire. Oh, yeah and she is kind of fond of living on a boat. Categories
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June 2024
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