Leaving the Bahamas - finally going home

We are on a journey. This trip is about beginnings and endings. We have been in Treasure Cay since February 28. It is time to go home.

We love Treasure Cay. Nice people. Nice view. Good food. It is not crowded. Everyone says hello. Perfect weather. Breezy with temperatures in the 70s. What a wonderful place to weather out the winter. This is better than Florida and lots less expensive.

It is getting warmer so temps are moving into the 80s and the water temperature is going up, now in the high 70s. Locals told us this is winter moving into spring. The week after Easter the snowbirds started to go home. Hurricane shutters began appearing on windows of condos.

The weather is getting a little bumpy as storms putting tornados in Florida in the first week of April. We can see the storms moving across Florida and know that in a certain number of hours it might be here. Bunches of boats came in to ride out a big storm.

There were at least 10 boats on our dock where usually there only about 4 or so. Most came in from the harbor were they anchored out but some came in from other parts of the Abacos. Treasure Cay is a noted hurricane hole. Now we know what that means.

 The storm wasn’t a hurricane but it really blew for two days straight with only minor reprieves to walk the dog. Wind gusts around 40 mph hit our marina which is no big deal as long as your boat is tied down. We heard Marsh Harbor had winds gusts up to 70 mph. Then the storm was gone, like the bad weather had never been here in the first place. In its wake, the storm made the grass greener and the flowers brighter. A miracle!

We had a series of boats docked next to us in the last week that made us look and feel like a bath toy. The 70 foot boat was bad enough.

When he left they tried to put a 85 foot yacht in that slip. It stuck out more than half into the channel! On second thought, let’s put it at the T dock at the end. Ok, good idea!

The captain is at the top running the boat with a small pad

Joint Venture is a Sea Ray 510 out of Baltimore. Ron and his wife have been at Treasure Cay since after Thanksgiving. They’ve been coming here for the last 7 years and now they know lots of people. Their kids and grandkids have been here for the weeks before and after Easter for an annual visit. The kids were really well behaved and everyone was quite friendly.

We rode our bikes to see Kirk the conch man make conch salad. He sets up this cart on a parking lot near the main cross roads going to Treasure Cay and Marsh Harbor. Kirk has an ad in the local Abacos advertisement. 

Kirk trimming the conch

His conch is the freshest because he has folks that go to the ocean to bring back fresh conch. He pulls them out of the shells himself. I am not sure what he does with the shells. I bet he has an outlet for them too. 

Kirk is just out there in a parking lot

I think Kirk's method can be used for all sorts of seafood. He pulls the conch out of the shell then cuts the conch (substitute any kind of shell fish) into small dice. Add small dice of onions, tomatoes, green peppers and cucumbers. 

Mix in a bunch of orange juice, lemon juice, and lime juice. Mix well and let it sit to marinade. It was good. However there is only so much conch one person can eat. And it looks totally disgusting. 

Conch are not very attractive 

These are the ugly little fellows in their shells. These
guys are still alive, for a while. 

These are the live conchs in the back of Kirk's' truck

Add fresh orange juice

Lots of chopping

Mix it all together

Then you get conch salad! Best on the island

I worked a lot, many hours every day. Work broken up with walks on the beach, reading at the beach, little boat rides, walk the dog, go to the grocery store or laundry. It is tough. I started working standing up so at least I am getting some exercise. I like that a lot. I think I will keep doing my work standing up.

Our dock was conveniently located to see all the boats that came in to the marina. One day we saw this dinghy filled with boys wearing the same t-shirts. That is odd. We made a joke to each other about how many sail boaters fit into a dinghy. 

Then we went to the beach bar, Cocos, for lunch. We saw these same kids playing volleyball at the beach. Until one kid got the money shot and hit the ball into the palm tree. It was a one in a million hit. He couldn't have done that again in a million years!!

 Turns out these were Boy Scouts on a week long adventure so they huddled up and made a plan. First they tried to climb the tree. That didn't work.

 Then they sent a team into the scrub to find some long sticks and another team to find a line. Then they lashed the sticks together to make a really long stick.

Then a team of kids started stabbing at the ball to move it out of the tree. 

After a bunch of sweat they managed to push the ball out of the tree! Then they played volleyball for a while!! This is how we passed our time!

When you have a lot of time on your hands like we do, the little things are really fun. One day we saw a sea plane buzz the marina. We grabbed the camera to capture this exciting moment!!! Then it was gone...

Enough fun. On Easter we decided it was time to leave. We cancelled the order on the upholstery because Augustine could not get the fabric we wanted. There was nothing keeping us here. We needed to start heading back.

Spinacker Restaurant at Treasure Cay Resort

Leaving is not as easy as just saying, “let’s go”. We have to watch the weather to find the best travel weather. The storms put a damper on our plans. We sent a note to Tony and Shirley on Headquarters because we knew they wanted to leave after Easter too. They came back to Treasure Cay on Sunday 4/8 for a weather chat. Windy early in the week with a chance later in the week. No problem. We went to dinner at Spinacker and settled in to enjoy ourselves until the weather improved.

Monday the weather looked better for a midweek run and a weekend trip across the Gulf Stream to Florida. Kermit spent the day fiddling with the boat. I spent the day working. I finally got a few things done for the business that have been hanging around unfinished for weeks. YEAH!!

Tuesday morning Kermit and Tony got back on their dinghy and headed over. The weather window is here!! We decided at 10am that today is the day so we decided to leave at 12pm. Just like that! We are on the road again!

Leaving Treasure Cay, Tuesday 4/9/2013 to Allans Pensacola

Sunny, clear and a little windy… a normal day.

At 12:30pm we pulled out of our dock.

We passed the same landmarks we passed on the way in: the anchorage, the fancy houses on the way out, Don't Rock, and the Sea of Abaco on the way to Whale Cay.

We rounded Whale Cay without any problems although the turn was a little tricky. We needed to time the turn and go a little further out so to make a smooth, safe turn to the port, to the North. We travel through the Atlantic Ocean on this bit which can be quite intimidating.

Headquarters waiting for us

The Sea of Abaco

Don't Rock

The big houses on the way out

Passing Whale Cay on the left

As we passed Whale Cay into the pass between Treasure Cay and Green Turtle Cay we looked to our left and saw familiar landmarks: the big orange house on the end, the pink one next to it, the condos to the right of Treasure Cay Resort and finally Treasure Cay Resort beach with the thatch covered beach bar where we spent so many hours.

Headquarters in the pass at Whale Cay

Treasure Cay from the beach side

Treasure Cay Resort in the middle

Passing Don't Rock on the other side

Then it was gone.

Green Turtle Cay - New Plymouth

Passing Green Turtle Cay we saw the 3 colorful houses next to the cemetery where we walked with the Lipka’s and Vellucci’s.

The mail boat coming into New Plymouth

New Plymouth

 It is not always pleasant weather traveling these parts. This sailboat didn't have a good day one day.

Lots of boats are moving towards West End to make the crossing

We arrived at Allans Pensacola about 3 pm. This deserted island has a narrow entrance with a big shoal. It makes a good harbor when the winds are out of the east as they were on Tuesday. Still we rattled all night.

When we arrived at Allans Pensacola there was a sailboat and power boat already in the harbor and a huge 90 foot sailboat just outside the harbor entrance. Soon after we arrived there were 8 sailboats and the three powerboats in this little space. We will be traveling with the same boats for several days.

This sailboat is 90 feet long. It couldn't fit into the harbor

It took a while to set the windlass again. It continued to run after we finished dropping the anchor, which can be a bit disconcerting. Kermit turned the windlass off at the source to make sure it didn’t go off unexpectedly then went exploring for the problem. Turns out a wire came loose that caused a short causing the windlass to go off half-cocked. We bypassed the problem. We can’t use the pedals at the front any more. Instead we use the old fashioned method of having Katherine at the helm and Kermit giving directions at the bow. Surprisingly we successfully dropped and picked up the anchor several times without arguing using this method!

We dropped the dinghy and took Rusty to shore. I went along with the camera to capture the moment. We saw no sign of the abandoned missile silo supposed to be there. There was also supposed to be a place where visitors sign their names but we didn’t see that either.

We found a neat tableau of an old freezer, signs, a DISH tv, and a fire ring composed of burned beer cans and conch shells. We picked up  two conch shells and a really beautiful small conch-like shell.

We had a delicious dinner on Headquarters that evening – blackened mahi mahi with chippies (oven baked fries) and salad. And lots of wine. Way too much wine. Gosh they can hold their liquor!

Despite the good anchorage we rocked and rolled all night. Kermit slept up top most of the night to be sure the anchor held or held. It was hot in the cabin anyway. Not much sleeping going on.

Allan's-Pensacola to Great Sale Cay Wednesday April 10, 2013

Our goal on Wednesday was to snorkel at Moraine Cay about 10 miles from Allans Pensacola along our route. So we dug out the gear and put on our bathing suits. But when we got to Moraine Cay this little slip of land was getting hit with winds and waves from all directions. The wind was coming from the South South East right at the reef with white caps that rocked like crazy.

Moraine Cay

Headquarters checking out Moraine Cay

Moraine Cay

Check out the amazing water stirations

It was really rock and roll out there

Moving on down the road

Anchoring would probably be ok but we would be tossed around like a cork. No one wanted to do that so we turned around and continued on disappointed. The water was like nothing I’ve ever seen before – so clear and blue. It would have been such fun to get in the water if it was a bit calmer.

The trip to Great Sale was uneventful. With winds out of the south we anchored on the north side of Great Sale Cay. We were the first ones to arrive but gradually the place filled in with our other 8 sailing friends.

 The water was about 80 degrees we went for a swim/walk in the water when we took Rusty out. Gorgeous.

Dinner on Headquarters again – tacos and tequila sunrises. We watched a pretty sun going down then these huge black clouds blew in with a stead farmers rain. Unfortunately we left all windows open. 

Kermit popped over to our boat to close up the windows then came back to pick me up. A quick Rusty walk and we were back in our snug boat comfy and dry.

Great Sale Cay to West End Thursday April 11, 2013

The big news today was passing 1000 hours on our engines!!! YEAH!!

On the way we saw dolphins, had a close encounter with a bee that hitchhiked with us for a while, and saw a manta ray in the water at West End.

The trip was uneventful until we got close to West End. West End is at the very north west end of the Abaco chain of islands. There are lots of little rocky bits around here. Most boats go all the way around Memory Rock.

Kermit and Tony noticed a path around Sandy Cay that might shorten our trip by 29 miles if we could do it. Repeated calls to our sailing colleagues revealed other people saw it too but it was not on the charts. It was on the Garmin but not on the charts. I am looking at a chart right now and I do not see it either.

But we decided to take the chance, calling it the Good Karma/Headquarters passage. It worked! We were the mother hen and a bunch of chicks followed us in as a bunch of sailboats heard us talking and followed us in. Later we had dinner with three other sail boats who commented on this adventure. 

One of the sailboats was originally in front but did not join us on the Good Karma/Headquarters passage and wound up coming in an hour after the rest of us! It feels good to pave the way for more efficient boating!

Once we made the turn south into the Good Karma/Headquarters passage the water and wind went nuts. It was 4+ foot waves the entire way. We held on. The furniture  moved all over. Stuff fell over in the cabin. When we arrived at West End our legs were wobbly for hours. I almost slipped on the deck handling lines because I couldn’t make my legs stop rolling.

We tied up at about 3:30pm after a 6 hour trip through pretty big water under sunny skies. We hooked up our electric (they charge for it anyway) and started up the air conditioning. Rusty must be comfortable after all. We sat on the back deck and had a beer. 

This lady caught a fish just as we
entered the channel to West End!

 Rusty enjoyed wandering in the water at West End. Isn't that pretty?

We looked to our port side and said hello to our neighbors in a sailboat. The man sort of smiled and said we had a lot of water running out the side. "Oh, that is the air conditioning". "Would you mind turning it off? It is making a lot of noise." I smiled and said, "Seriously?" I thought it was a joke. Kermit heard and stepped in before the bull dozer in me took over. He joshed with them and realized they were serious. They asked Kermit to tie a fender off the railing so the water would run over the fender and not make so much noise as it rolled into the water. Kermit did that. Can you believe it? We couldn't. 

Tony's comment? "Those whining, whinging Poms". Evidently that is a high insult. He says folks from New Zealand and Australia think folks from England complain a LOT. They did have an English accent but the boat, Southern Vector, is labeled with a Canadian location. But other folks at dinner confirmed they are from the Isle of Wight off of England. So sure enough they are whining, whinging Poms, just as Tony said.

Dinner at the marina restaurant. We were joined by two other couples: Fred and Karen from Fairhope AL, and Jules and his wife from 2 hours north of Montreal. We had a lot of laughs about spending the winter in the Bahamas. I hope we can do this again. Such nice people.

Now it is Friday. We will stay in port until the weather turns. It looks like Saturday is a good day to travel. Kermit and I are ready to go back to the USA. We actually want to go home or at least see friends and family. I could use a hug from Marissa and I haven’t talked to Martha in ages. Too long. Winter in the Bahamas is wonderful but so are friends and family. It will be good to get home again.