A day at GTC

 

New Plymouth.

Today, Tuesday, was a beautiful day here at Green Turtle Cay!  We rented a golf cart, and toured the Island.  New Plymouth, the main town, has come back somewhat from Hurricane Dorian, but still shows signs of how bad that Cat 5 hurricane ravaged this area.  However, there is now a paved road from the marina to town (several miles), so no dust covered cart rides as in the past.  Loyalist Park is not quite back, and I really wanted to show Ken the park and museum here, since both  favor the British side of the American revolution, and definitely have a different spin on the history I learned in civics class!  Town does have a couple of good restaurants, and the shrimp tacos were a hit with the Duval family.  The customs office is destroyed, and a customs officer comes to the marina from the mainland to check in  boaters.  Our officer was efficient and clearing customs here was a breeze and no shakedown, as we have had a few times in the past.  Most things on GTC run smoothly, for the Bahamas.  The residents here are proud of their community, and rightly so.  It is our favorite island in the Abacos.  That is the main reason we decided to leave the boat here while we fly home for a stay with the grandkids next week.  To do so, we will, take the ferry to the mainland, and then a 45 minute taxi ride to Marsh Harbour airport.  A final note-we are feeling (but not experiencing) the pain of all our Louisiana friends who are freezing!!  Stay tuned..

We made it!

 We made it to Green Turtle Club and Marina!  The crossing turned out to be fine.  The weather window held, and provided an uneventful trip.  It was rainy, but relatively calm.  We had our life raft out just in case, but fortunately did not need it.  Here are some pics.

The bar at Green Turtle.

Imbibing at the bar.  

The sun finally showed. 

The restaurant.  

The marina. 

The ferry is the only way to get here if you are not on your own boat.  

  

Green Turtle Cay. 

A calm day on the Bank.  We have to fly the yellow quarantine flag until cleared by customs.  

Our Sirius weather.  We had rain, but calm seas.  The blue is the Bahama Bank.  The white area between Florida and the Bahamas is over 2000 feet deep.  

Weather gods smile; briefly.

It seems that we can cross to the Bahamas tomorrow, Thursday.  According to all four of my weather sources, it will be a decent day to cross, but the window collapses Friday morning.  So we are preparing the boat for sea, taking down pictures, locking the freezer, and in general lashing down everything that can move.  As can be seen in the first two pics, we have a 50NM trek in the open ocean, then another 50NM trek to Great Sale Cay, where we will anchor for the night.  From there it is a short hop to Green Turtle Cay, our final destination for now.  The roughest part of the trip will be in the gulf stream.  We will enter it a few miles out from Stuart, and exit a few miles from the point where we enter the Bahamas Bank.  Once on the bank, the depth is 20' or less, and much calmer.  The gulf stream is described as a river of water flowing north and it goes all the way to Britain.  It flows at about 5 mph, so it can affect a boat's heading, which requires adjustment to our navigation while we cross.  Fortunately with a working auto pilot, which is integrated with our GPS, it can auto adjust, making navigation much simpler that when I was growing up.  I do have all my old paper charts, and navigation tools, but I am a bit rusty, having become spoiled to the new toys.  It is basically point and click if everything is working.  You do have to keep a lookout however, to avoid being run over by a ship, in the busy shipping lane between Florida and the Bahamas.  

This year we plan to stay in the Abacos, instead of our general haunts of Eleuthera and the Exumas.  The Abacos are the northern part of the Bahamas chain, and form one of the most protected cruising ground in the Bahamas chain.  The Bahamas stretch about 500 miles and consist of about 29 islands and 661 Cays.  Many of the Cays in the Abacos were established by British Loyalists who fled the newly formed United States after the revolution.  For example, Green Turtle, Man O War, and Hopetown all have an English flair.  They were devastated by Hurricane Dorian a few years back, but have made remarkable progress since then.  When we passed through the Abacos two years ago on the way home, we were so impressed, we decided to visit them exclusively this trip.  Our first stop will be Green Turtle, where we will leave the boat for a few weeks and fly home.  Hopefully my next post will be from Green Turtle!  

Crossing the gulf stream.

On the banks to Great Sale. 

The best carrot cake ever, in West Palm Beach.

The magnificent playhouse in West Palm.  

The Harborage Marina in Stuart. 

 

Trains and internet.

 The east coast of Florida has embraced high speed passenger rail service.  This has created tension with the substantial recreational boating industry. The Brightline runs between Miami and Orlando, and crosses many waterways.  For example, when exiting the Okeechobee Waterway to join the ICW at Stuart, we had to request an opening of the Roosevelt bridge, and the railroad bridge next to it. The train service has increased in popularity which decreases the time that the railroad bridge can open.  This causes a backlog of boats traveling to and from Stuart, and has resulted in lots of meetings and political issues between the two industries.  When we crossed, there was about a half hour wait, and we were in a group of about 20 boats waiting. The clearance for the railroad bridge is only about 5’ so most boats can’t get under it.  

To help alleviate the situation there is a web site where boaters can see when the railroad bridge will close, so you can try to time your arrival at the bridge.  It shows the trains in real time.  Unknown to me, this has become an issue for boaters traveling the ICW on the east coast.  

The other matter, internet, has a better story.  In the past, we had to rely on cellular or marina WiFi which is spotty.  We now have Starlink internet service on board, and have decent internet anywhere in North America.  Starlink is a collection of low orbit satellites that provides decent coverage for rural areas, RVs and boats.  It is a true game changer for us.  We now have continuous coverage and can stream, make wifi calls and surf the web just about anywhere.  We have signed up for the marine plan, which so far is a bargain at $150 a month.  The only downside is Elon Musk keeps changing the plans when he loses money on his other ventures.  But, we have the ability to pause the service at no cost, so it is still a good deal for us.  More and more boats, are replacing those big domes that provided phone and Direct TV for the relatively small Starlink antenna.  It is nice to know we will have communication while at sea, and in the Bahamas.  Right now Alexis is watching the Saints, and is in a foul mood, so there is a downside….

Weather gods are not cooperating!

The weather gods are not smiling on Florida!  The offshore forecast has been lousy.  Consistent 5-10 foot seas have kept us from making the 70 mile trek to the Bahamas.  5-10' seas are predicted through late Wednesday, so we luckily extended our reservations at The Harborage Marina in Stuart through Thursday.  The forecast calls for 1-3 foot seas on Thursday, so hopefully we will cross then.  In the meantime, we are enjoying the very quaint town of Stuart, with its many restaurants and shops.  Alexis also scored tickets to a Yo Yo Ma concert this Monday.  So we are spending down our retirement fund while waiting....

 I have been tackling the never ending maintenance list.  I changed the starboard fan belt, which was failing, and finally installed the correct fresh water pump, after ordering one that would not fit. Perfect Fit is set to go, as soon as the weather allows.  In the meantime we wait.  Here are some Stuart pics:

 

Naturally I found a pub with the best cherry pie !

 

Shops abound. 

 

I liked this pub..

 

 Scenes from our Marina.  

Stuart, FL and waiting

 Well we made to the east coast of Florida via the Okeechobee waterway.  Ken and Allyson joined us for a semi eventful trip.  Our first planned stop was Cabbage Key, a remote island  between Sarasota and Ft. Myers.  It has a dynamite restaurant which, of course, dictates a stop.  We made it there, but not without incident. About half way, I heard a loud thumping noise from the port shaft and transmission. I immediately feared the worst, a failing transmission.  Once docked at Cabbage Key, I snorkeled under the boat and found that the port shaft zinc had come loose and was jammed between the hull and shaft, and was thumping against the hull when the shaft turned.  It would not budge.  I have had Tow Boat US insurance forever, but had never used them.  Well they came through big time.  The next morning they showed up with a diver, who after two hours under the boat, finally removed the offending shaft zinc!  And we had a dynamite meal at the restaurant. 

And did I mention one of our three heads (boat toilet) exploded? And the auto pilot died?  I am happy to report that the toilet has been repaired here in Stuart, and the auto pilot should be repaired today.  So a semi eventful passage to Stuart. We are now waiting on a weather window to cross to Grand Bahama Island, a 70 mile passage in the Atlantic. The weather has been funky here, with unusual cold temperatures and windy conditions. So we wait….

Below are some pictures from this segment of the trip. I am trying to figure out how to put them in order, but they are mixed for now.  Stay tuned for updates! 

Ken and I enjoying the trip through the Okeechobee.  

Going through one of the five locks.  

The offending zinc. 

Our rescuers! 

Scenes from Cabbage Key.

Sunset at our marina in Stuart.

Perfect Fit at night.