Voyage 2010: Chapter 4

17 Apr 2011, On to Nassau, 25 04.524 N/ 077 18.77 W

We are in a hurry! Emily's First Communion date is approaching and we will not miss it. So we have to hustle. We left George Town at 0700 on Tuesday and entered the Exuma Sound at 0815 heading for Galiot Cut. We had a nice motor sail but the wind was definitely light. We entered the Exuma Banks at 1430 and dropped the hook off of Big Majors at 1850. It was a pleasant but long passage. The next day, we left for Shroud Cay (no wind) to stage our arrival at Nassau on Thursday. We arrived at Shroud on 1445 under calm condition but had more boats than we expected. We took a mooring and enjoyed the sunset.

We left Shroud at 0630 hoping to take a slip at Nassau before dark. We diverted from our rhumb line a bit to miss the Yellow Banks but that only cost a couple of minutes. Winds we again light so of course we motor sailed again. We were making good time but not much real sailing. We arrived at Nassau Harbour Club at 1515 in a less than an ideal slip; not what we were promised but we had nice neighbors.

On Friday we cleaned the entire boat inside and out as this was the first wash Jule received since the first weeks in Sint Maarten. She was happy. We were happy. The marina has not changed much since last year though Peter was a bit grumpier than last year. Still, he is the best at getting boats tied up in the marina.

Ben and Don are our immediate neighbors who are young Irish crew for an Irish owner on a Irish boat. They were very helpful assisting us to complete our tie up. They were good musicians who provided delightful music around sunset most nights. Don has been on the boat for 17 months and has traveled nearly around the world. Ben has been with the boat only 7 months.

On Sunday we headed for Sacred Heart Catholic Church for Palm Sunday. The service was very moving and the church was full. The congregation mirrored the ethnic mix of New Providence. The picture here was taken 30 minutes before the beginning of the service. We hope to be in Vero Beach for Easter Sunday.

22 Apr 2011, Almost Home in Vero, 27 39.504 N/ 080 22.27 W

We left Nassau 0740 day before yesterday with more light winds and a favorable current. If the Gulf Stream is not kind to us, we may have to enter Ft. Pierce in the dark. Not a nice thing, especially if wind and current are opposing. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. The Northwest Channel was not bad as we approached Northwest Light. The banks were nearly flat. We did not see many cruisers on the way nor did we hear any VHF chatter.

But is was getting very hot with little wind and a cloudless sky. Ann broke ouit the umbrella to get some relief. Bob was hiding behind the dodger. Helmer, the autopilot was doing all of the hard work. Jule's Yanmar is not very thirsty so under normal motorsailing conditions, she uses less than 0.5 gallons/hour. Still we have been doing a lot of motorsailing.

Yesterday at 1910, we arrived at the Ft Pierce after 35 hrs underway from Nassau. The Stream was disapointing so we ran out of daylight for the final push to Vero. To make matters worse, our normal anchorage near Harbourtown was a bit crowded and very shallow. It has shoaled considerably in the past two years. So we headed back towards the inlet and anchored in the turning basin with two other sailboats. Nice anchorage!

Yesterday, we hauled anchor at 0745 and headed for Vero Beach. We motored slowly to enjoy the waterway and the cool breeze. We have not experienced such coolness in a long time. The local boater were friendly and courteous. We were happy it was not a weekend as it would be much more congested. We arrived in Vero at 1100 and got one of the best mooring balls (#21) all to ourselves. The mooring field had no double moorings and maybe 12 free mooring balls. Never saw this before.

Our plan is to stay here until after Easter Sunday and move towards Wilmington before the late week weather sets in. So we have three days to provision, meet our friends from Orlando, and enjoy Easter Sunday. Today (Friday), we see Bella and the crew of SV Sirius Endeavor heading for shore. They were are mooring mates last year. We promised ourselves that we would contact them tomorrow. However, that would not be. Tonight, our son, Chris called and informed us that Gina (our remaining dog) was dying and that we should head home as soon as possible! Gina had days not weeks. Twelve hours later we left Vero.