Voyage 2002-2003: Chapter 7

10 Apr 2003, Nassau and the Trip back to Vero, 27 39.299 N/ 080 22.270 W

True to form, NOAA was dead right about their prediction of a strong cold front. It came through Sunday night and its effects lasted until Thursday. The weather collected its toll on several teenagers who foolishly tried to island hop right before its passage. They are missing and presumed dead. After the initial front passed, we asked Sydney, the harbormaster, to help flip our boat so that is was pointing East rather than West. This was necessary for us to leave our dock without smashing everything in sight. Piece of cake! Looked like magic to us but within a few minutes our boat had moved 180 degrees without any mishap.

We spent 6 days in Nassau which pretty much decided for us where we would go next. We would wait for a window and head East for Florida. Celena was not ready to go back yet so they would head back to the Abacos. Meantime Ann and Nancy had shopping to do. Bob tried in vain to seize the credit cards. Ann triumphed but didn't spend much. Not sure about Nancy. One of the 'things' that cruisers do is listen to Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association (BASRA) weather reports at 4003 kHz at 0700 ET. Carolyn is the moderator of that net and a member of BASRA. We heard the voice for nearly two months and wanted to place a face with the voice. On Thursdays, Carolyn and her husband Nick meet the cruisers at the local watering hole, Crocodiles. The crews of Jule III and Celena had the opportunity to meet and chat with both. Very enjoyable!

On Friday, 4 April (my old brother's birthday) we were prepared to leave Nassau. First we helped a Canadian cruiser, S/V Padolu leave his slip, then we helped Celena leave theirs. Finally we pushed off (without hitting anything, I might add) and headed for Chub Cay in the Berrys. We checked out with Nassau Harbor Control and headed for Chub which was about 32 nm from Nassau. With rolly following seas, Jule III motorsailed to Chub. It was an uneventful day and we had the company of a dozen other cruisers. We arrived at Chub Cay Club at 1615. S/V Unity and S/V Reflections arrived shortly after us. The Club is tailored for mega yachts and their accommodations for sailing cruisers is, say, Spartan. Not a Spartan price, just accommodations. Folks were friendly and weather was predicted to be good for the next several days, so we were happy.

At 0630 on Saturday, we left Chub Cay for Fort Pierce which we estimated to be a 30 hour voyage. We hoped to cross the Bahamas Bank before dark (to miss the shoals) and to arrive in Fort Pierce to catch a favorable tied by 1200 on Sunday. Don't know why, but Ann really enjoys night sailing. Even the big ships in the night don't scare her (much). We had a great motor sail (as the winds were still on our stern) across the Banks and arrived at Hens and Chickens Shoals (NE Rock Light) before it got completely dark. Our only problems now were ship traffic and possible storms. This ships were a pain. We counted 6 large cruise ships, the freighters, and a couple of ships we could not identify that we had to avoid. And of course the wind and wave picked up. And of course by now it was pitch dark. By 2100, all was clear and we were ready to cross the stream. By 2200 the Stream was advancing our speed by a knot. By 0400, the Stream was pushing us by over 3 kts and by 0800 we were going over 10 kts over the ground (Stream was pushing us over 4 kts). We didn't do too well on sleep as we had not got into the rhythm of things but by 1130 we entered Fort Pierce inlet (with a favorable current of 2 kts). Two hours later we were rafted to S/V Annie's Song (another story) at Vero Beach. Another peaceful crossing! We heard that Celena had equal success arriving in the Abacos. As they do not have SSB, we are relying on email to communicate. BTW, S/V Legend is still in George Town. We don't think they will leave until Thanksgiving! We will be staying at Vero for about a week then waiting for a window to head North. Stay tuned!

14 Apr 2003, Chillin in Vero, 27 39.281 N/ 080 22.342 W

We have come to love Vero Beach (aka Velcro Beach) as it is so cruiser friendly. The marina has a habit of not turning anybody away; the staff is always friendly, the transportation around town is free, and the people are nice. Wow, reminds me of ... no where else. We rafted to a rather an aloof couple; not bad but certainly no S/V Everden (Nov 02). Clearing back into the US was a pain. The 800 number which we had to call did not answer for nearly 24 hours. Once we got them, they (Customs) reminded us that we had to connect with Immigration. After 9/11, INS was getting more strict in checking in. Luckily, when we called, they accepted a phone confirmation. Many had to visit INS in person (for us a two hour drive..and we don't have a car). Only problem with Vero is the noseeums, really nasty biting bugs. We had them every day.

Don't think we told you that Bob broke the satellite dish in Nassau. As a result, fixing the dish was our number one priority was to fix the satellite dish. We bought a new LNB. No joy! Bob did some analysis and found out that he didn't break it; rather the cable failed. 5 minutes later (new connector), we were back on line.

Ann went amock at Wally World (aka Walmart) and Home Depot/Lowes. Bob just sighed..and gave out the credit card. Sigh! One evening, a vicious squall came through and caused some concern to all. No damage anywhere. Our wind generator was happy. We broke down on Friday and got a rental car (Enterprise) and decided to go to Melbourne and Cocoa Beach. We stopped at Roberto's Cuban Restaurant in Cocoa for lunch (must go place) with killer tee shirts. We also stopped at West Marine to get various do-dads.

On Saturday, we visited our god-kids in Orlando (previously in Melbourne). We had a great time with the Strunz'. Bob and Harry go back to 7th grade together and have been close ever since. Harry is married to Saint Sheila, a savior for us and numerous other folks. Eric is the older of the kids and is ready to drive (horror). Stephanie is the younger who is always a joy. We all went on a hike around their development to explore for flora and fauna. Not much found of each. Oh well.