M/V Perfect Fit: It is time to head back to the States.

One of the common themes this winter has been the weather. Here in the Abacos there has been a cold front coming through about every week. Fortunately, most have not had much rain or lightning, but the winds pick up from the south before the front, and they clock west then north as the front passes through. That makes for short weather windows to cross from the States or go through the whale (the passage from Marsh Harbour to Green Turtle). It has made for extremely pleasant temperatures, and most days have been sunny and mild. The wind, however, has been a nemesis. Yesterday the wind was mild, but the sea still had 7-9’ rollers from the stout north wind from the past few days. Yesterday around 8:00 am we heard a Mayday call on the VHF radio. A 40’ sailboat attempted to cross the whale and the boat was swamped by the rollers as they crested when hitting the shallow (10-20’) water in the whale passage. The sailboat did not have enough power to battle the cresting waves and swamped. All of us at the marina were glued to our radios as the rescue played out. At first a 60’ motor yacht spotted three survivors in their dinghy. Due to the rough seas, they could not transfer from the dinghy to the yacht, so the yacht took the dinghy in tow. Then the tow line broke and the yachtsman could not find the dinghy due to the steep waves. Luckily a rescue boat set out from Baker’s Bay, and found the dinghy and towed them to calmer waters. The sailors were brought to our marina and had to book passage to Nassau to go to the American Embassy to get new passports so they could re-enter the US. What an ordeal!

With that thought in mind, there is a small weather window opening April 1. We plan to cross to Ft. Pierce, FL that day. We will reluctantly depart Green Turtle Saturday and make our way to a staging ground to cross over. Hopefully the weather gurus are correct! If not, we will divert to West End on Grand Bahama and wait.

Even though we haven’t been able to take the boat out much since Ken and Allyson left, we have made the most of our stay. We explored the island by golf cart and went to many beaches where we were the only souls there. One of the nice things about boating is the comradery with other boaters. We made new friends and enjoyed dock tails on each other’s boat. As usual we have met people with connections to Houma/Thibodaux and have mutual friends. It is a small world.

The boat to our port is a Viking sport fisherman and it charters out. We made friends with the captain and mate, and they told us it was even too rough for them to go out the whale this morning. To our starboard is even a bigger Viking. It is run by a nice captain and mate who are employed by the owner. They took his daughter out a few days ago and scored a big Wahoo in the rough seas. They earn their money!

Alexis and I chartered a bottom fishing trip during one of the calm days and scored a mess of strawberry grouper. We have had a steady stream of fish and lobster while here, and eating has been what we do….

We both have thoroughly enjoyed staying in the Abacos for three months. In the past we have always gone south to the Exumas, Eleuthera, and the Berry Islands. This year staying in the relatively protected Sea of Abaco, we completely unwound. I read over a dozen books, and we enjoyed the slow pace of staying in one area. The Abacos probably have more nice restaurants and bars than anywhere outside Nassau. We have sampled too many of them! It is time to return to the US!