The Trip North

The Trip North 

     After arriving in Vero Beach we had a delightful few days with Willie and Melanie. We even got to celebrate Willie's 28th birthday by looking for fossils on the Peace River. We found lots of shark teeth and fossil shells.


   





   
    Although Nico and I flew home for a bit we still needed to get Far and Away home to Maine. Luckily, some friends stepped in and helped Nico out. After Nico finished with business home he flew back to Vero and a couple of days later his friend Steve Holtman joined him. Steve had never sailed but he was enthusiastic, competent and up for anything. The two of them sailed down to Fort Pierce, anchored in the dark and headed out the inlet at dawn. They had fair winds and once they hit the Gulf Stream they rocketed north at 11 knots.




    The Gulf Stream

     The only issue was that Nico thought was sending me his location with his GPS SPOT but I wasn't receiving his "All well" messages. I followed the plan, which was to alert the Coast Guard. They called and called on the radio and finally picked up a faint response 90 miles south of Charleston. All was well but it was not transmitting. They made it to Charleston a few days early.


   
      At that point, Malcolm Poole flew down and joined Nico while Steve enjoyed his remaining week in Charleston with his wife. Malcolm is a real sailing pro. The two of them headed out and didn't touch land until Cape May, New Jersey when they made a trip in for fuel. Next stop was Newport two days later. They skirted a fierce front but the trip was uneventful.


During the night watch


During the day watch
  
 I drove down to Newport and Malcolm headed home in my car. Back together again!




Some of the boats in Newport Harbor.

   
The exhaust system developed a leak, spewing soot and exhaust in the cabin area. Nico fixed one and then another and we headed off with low RPMs to Hadley Harbor in the Elizabeth Islands.

The early fog burned off and we reached the canal at 2:30 to catch the fair tide.


Crossing Cape Cod Bay, heading to Provincetown


We anchored in Provincetown Harbor but had 60 miles the next day in thick fog, cold and damp. Back in New England!






The fog by Isles of Shoals was even thicker.
 
    Luckily the last leg was on a Sunday so there weren't lobster boats zipping around. We took half hour watches peering into the thick fog and rain. It lifted around Cape Elizabeth and we made South Freeport Harbor mid-afternoon, nine months and over 3,500 miles after leaving last fall. I have great fondness for our sturdy boat and admiration for all that Nico did to get us through our adventure safely. We had fun.


Nearing the harbor


Furling the sail one last time on the voyage.


Back at the dock


We are now official members of the Harraseeket Yacht Club.


The team!

I am composing this post as I look out on the soft green of our meadow and at Violet snoozing in the sun. The Bahamian portion of our adventure has come to an end. Nico is up here for business before heading back to continue the journey from Florida to Maine. He will be getting a little help from his friends while I stay here, plant my garden and substitute teach while trying to find out why my head does not like the motion of the ocean. Our last leg was getting Far and Away back across the Gulf Stream to Vero Beach. We figured on spending a day crossing from Double Breasted Cay to West End, Grand Bahama and then from there, crossing the Stream in mild weather.


We toasted the adventure with our trip's classic warm (no ice) rum drink - dark rum, fresh squeezed lime and orange juice and a splash of tonic.


We dined on fresh cracked conch that we collected, cleaned, soaked, and pounded before frying it up with panko bread crumbs.


The next day we rose early and barely made it out of our anchorage on a very low tide. We bumped against some coral but we made it out and sailed all day across the bank, enjoying the last of the gorgeous turquoise water...


and the last of the great fishing. This is a Spanish Mackerel.


We cooked it up with the last of the bean sprouts. My sprouter saved the day, giving us fresh veggies throughout the trip and giving me a garden at sea. I talked to the sprouts and moved them around in the sun and tucked them in if it was getting rough. One morning the lid flew off while I was moving the sprouter and Nico, without a second's hesitation, dove in and rescued it.


I realize I have included many pictures of food but it was an important part of the day and I was really proud how well we ate despite no refrigeration. I was also amazed that I stocked up appropriately and we didn't run out of any essential items. I didn't have to throw much out due to spoilage and I only had to get rid of one container of Mexican corn meal due to bugs.


A last glimpse of that color! When we got to Grand Bahama we realized that there were really no protected anchorages unless we traveled almost 20 miles out of our way. We decided that instead of rolling all night at anchor in the open we would just keep going across to Florida, arriving at daybreak. It was calm, settled weather.


As we left the Bahama bank the depth went from 12 feet to hundreds of feet in a matter of minutes. Soon it was thousands of feet deep.


We were in the Gulf Stream.


What a difference in the color of the water.


Soon it was time to take down our tattered Bahamian courtesy flag. The night crossing was uneventful although a bit lumpy. The current was running against the light northerly breeze so the seas were choppy. However, no big ships came near and another sailboat with the same idea kept us company to the entrance at Fort Pierce. A big orange moon rose over the water as I was at the helm. At dawn we circled around the sea buoy until it was light enough to enter. We cleared customs by using a phone App and FaceTime, and headed to the Marina in Vero Beach. Back in the U.S.A.

Nearing the End of the Chain

The last week or so we have been traveling along the chain of cays in the Northern Abacos before heading back to Florida. We visited Cave Cay, Great Sale Cay, Grand Cay and finally Double Breasted.

Food supplies were getting a little low so we were lucky to have some good fishing to supplement the canned selection. We caught a nice Mutton Snapper on our way to Cave Cay.


We had the collar, as they call it in the fish industry, with polenta, capers, dried tomatoes and some sprouts for lunch.


Then fried in cornmeal with a hot canned bean salad on the side for dinner.


Cave Cay is off the beaten track because it is located at the beginning of the very shallow Little Bahama Bank off Little Abaco. For the first time in ages there was not a soul around us, either on the water or on land. It had a very wild feeling and we didn't leave an anchor light on as usual so not to attract attention.


This little island was a good cormorant perching spot. We explored the mangrove lagoon which was interesting as usual, but no new species or excitement.


Far and Away felt very far and away.


We then sailed to Great Sale Cay. What a view as I made lunch in the galley!


I kept taking pictures of the water as we sailed along because I knew I would miss that color. Great Sale was a large cay that had a lovely wide, protected harbor. Like Cave Cay it was not inhabited (and is for sale I gather) but it is a popular spot because there is deeper water and it is a good arrival or jumping off spot from Florida. We still had time before heading home so we traveled across to the northern outer cays off Abaco. A front was coming with strong winds predicted so we wanted a protected spot. Grand Cay had a nice, enclosed harbor but when we arrived we found there was a fishing derby going on and no room at the marina. There was one mooring in the harbor we could use but the line had a cut in it. Nico dove down and supplemented it with our second anchor line which he shackled to the mooring block as insurance.


We had no issues during the blow.


Grand Cay is primarily a fishing town. A few years ago the inhabitants from Walker's Cay were relocated here when their island was destroyed by a hurricane. While we were at Grand it was Easter weekend, the fishing derby and homecoming so it was very festive. Boats kept arriving bringing families to be together for the weekend.


Some people almost had too much fun.


Big Daddy was a guy from Florida named Flannigan who loved to fish at Grand Cay. When he died he endowed a derby that was geared so the locals with small boats could be involved. Each boat had to catch one barracuda, one yellow tailed snapper, one mutton snapper, one jack, one mackerel and a grouper. His kids and their families were all there to fish in his memory.


Points were awarded to the top three biggest fish in each category to determine the overall winner but there were prizes for the heaviest in each category. They were big monetary prizes so there was great interest.


The proceeds went to the local school. We explored a classroom and I knew immediately it was a 4th or 5th grade room by the same types of posters about writing and math that I had in my room in Falmouth. It did have a picture of Queen Elizabeth under the Bahamian flag along with other local officials, as well as the Bahamian pledge, but it was still SO familiar.


It was very festive. Lots of food, drink, games and very, very loud music.


So many people smoked large Cuban cigars.


There were huge piles of empty conch shells everywhere. The fishermen would head out every morning in small skiffs.


Some had great names.


It was breezy and the frigate birds were gliding overhead.


They cleaned the fish right in the harbor so there were many rays and other birds taking an interest.


When the wind calmed down we moved to Double Crested Cay which is actually a series of cays creating lots of channels and mangrove rivers to explore by dinghy. We did some good snorkeling here. I enjoyed seeing a hogfish snapper rooting around the sea fans.


Nico did some conch diving himself.


I am always amazed by the color of the shell and the strangeness of the animal.







This time we cleaned them on the beach. The sign confused us until it was time to discard the guts. Then we made friends.




We also caught some fish. This one was lunch, steamed over rice with ginger and soy sauce -


 and sprouts.


This one is in the needlefish family. We put him back but not before he clomped onto Nico's arm with those sharp teeth!


One of the smaller cays by Doubled Breasted was called Sand Cay and it was truly beautiful. That is Far and Away anchored in a shallow but sheltered spot by the flats. While were were there it was just past a full moon and there was an impressive minus tide. The pink sand flats were exposed more than usual and we had fun walking on them, finding sea biscuits, crabs, conch, lovely shells and worms.




This is a picture of a sand collar, which is the egg casing for the moon snail shell.


A live sea biscuit, a type of sand dollar








Look at the thickness of the trunk of the tree on the left. It is like a bonsai.


Sea Grapes


A live cowrie shell


It was a truly beautiful spot to wrap up our trip.