Great Sale Cay, Bahamas

As of our last post, we had just arrived in West Palm Beach, Florida around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, November 22nd.  Things were happening fast.  We had a decent weather window for a Gulf Stream crossing to the Bahamas, so we decided to leave West Palm Beach around 10 p.m. which gave us a few hours of rest and relaxation.

Two other boats left West Palm Beach with us, a sailing vessel named The Edge and another named Celeste.  We originally aimed for what the charts called "Memory Rock" waypoint, but we had to point 35 degrees to starboard to counteract the Gulf Stream current (3-4 knots) which pointed us too far into the wind to sail.  So, we changed course and headed to "Little Bahama Bank" waypoint further North than Memory Rock and were able to motorsail and then sail.  We arrived on the banks at dawn and motorsailed to Great Sale Cay where we dropped the hook around 4 p.m.  Though we could not sail the entire trip, it was an easy trip across the Gulf Stream with low seas. 

We stayed here for Thanksgiving Day due to weather or just because we were being lazy and enjoyed being on anchor again.   For Thanksgiving, we had all the fixin's (i.e. stuffing, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, etc.) aboard, so we didn't miss out on a good size feast.   Though we truly miss our family and friends, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope everyone also had a fabulous Thanksgiving Day!

Thanksgiving Day 2011

We stayed in Great Sale Cay for several more days to let the weather settle down a bit and then began slowly making our way to Marsh Harbor.

St. Augustine, Florida

After spending about two months in Charleston, South Carolina enjoying the beautiful city and waiting of hurricane season to end, we finally began making our way south.  We left Charleston on Sunday, November 13th made a quick overnight stop in Fernandina Beach, Florida on the 14th where we met up with our friends Dave and Camilla aboard Southern Heat.  We strolled for cocktails at Green Turtle where they served $2 Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) and $2 Budweiser ... what a deal.  Then had a nice dinner at Espana located on Fourth street which was recommended by our bartender at Green Turtle.

We left Fernandina Beach the next morning at 4:00 a.m. and we arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on November 15th and grabbed a mooring ball for $20 a night.  Twenty dollars a night is not too bad considering it includes a free water taxi service, free pump out service and access to laundry, showers and the dinghy dock.  We spent the next four days touring the city and doing a few chores like laundry.  Our friend Jerry came down for a night.  Though he only spent one night, he drove us around to West Marine (boat store), Winn Dixie (grocery store) and a local marine store which sold used parts for less.  While waiting for Rankin to make some final purchases in one of the marine stores, Jerry and I enjoyed some "raw" snacks and organic drinks at a nearby restaurant ... he didn't love it.  Thanks so much Jerry for being such a trooper.  That same evening, we went to the Lighting of the Lights downtown and had a wonderful dinner at Columbia, a nice Cuban restaurant.

It was a quick visit in St. Augustine because it's time to head south, so we left Sunday, November 20th after dropping Jerry off at the fuel dock while we topped off the tanks.  We sailed slowly (at times around 2 knots) down to West Palm Beach, Florida and arrived today November 22nd.  We'll only be here about 6 hours, because there's a weather window to cross the gulf stream to the Bahamas.  So we'll take a quick nap, have dinner and then leave for the Bahamas around 10 p.m.  We should arrive the Bahama Banks around 7 am and we should be anchored by tomorrow afternoon.  That's all for now but we'll keep you posted.  Take care everyone and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.