The PLAN Isn't Working & Powell Cay

Put our 'bigger' headsail up for the up coming trip

The Plan is not going to plan. The weather window we had hoped would take us up to North Carolina is plagued with a huge area of no wind and while we don’t object to motoring for a while, the idea of motoring the majority of the trip is not something that appeals. As always plans are made in sand at low tide and ours have been washed away.  But that is ok; we have come up with a new one. While we could wait it out in the Bahamas for the wind to fill in long enough to take us as far as we want to go, we are ready to leave now and feel we might get more sailing options once we get Stateside to keep travelling northwards.  So we will take this wind that picks up tomorrow and lower our latitude so that it will take us into North Florida instead of North Carolina before it dies all together. Then when we do get periods of wind we can do one or two night hops up the coast on the outside (oceanside) rather than motoring the entire way up the ICW like we did last year. But as always we are at the mercy of the weather and will have to see how this plan unfolds.

Our new dinghy cover and Sims work of art! 

In the mean time Sim has been working on his dinghy cover – it’s almost complete, just a little tweaking to get it to fit snugly. It’s been a work in progress but he has slowly chipped away at it. I am hugely impressed and a little shame faced to say I have had nothing to do with it! In readiness for our up coming sail we have changed the headsail over from the smaller higher cut one that’s good for windward trips and put up the big ‘Mofo' – the polite word for the big genoa which is better for downwind passages. Since Sim and I have changed sails very rarely over the last 11 years it must mean we mean business! We have checked off items on our pre-departure list to make sure whatever trip we end up doing we have prepared for it the best we can.

Sim enjoying a swim at Powell Cay

Meanwhile Sim and I have thoroughly enjoyed our last few days at Powell Cay in the Bahamas; an uninhabited island in the northern Abacos with not much going on except long sandy beaches and a couple of trails across the overgrown island to yet more sandy beaches .Its peaceful and quiet. We have kayaked and swam and walked on the sandy shores....the last we will see the likes of for a while.  And while we love hanging out in company we have really enjoyed this time on our own. But knowing our friends were in the area we arranged to get together one last time for a blow out BBQ on the beach.  We managed to dodge the rain squalls and the water spouts to start a fire and enjoyed good food and good company one last time together. 

An old wreck in the middle of Powell Bay

One of the trails takes you to a lookout above a rocky outcrop

The water is so clear

We kayaked around the north side of the island to our own private beach

although we almost had every beach to ourselves it was so quiet.

Wandering Star in Powell Cay waiting for the wind to fill in.

The trails were a little overgrown from lack of use.

But the beaches on the other side of the island were gorgeous

Its hard work walking in the soft sand.

We followed the flotsam and jetsam marking the trails back to the otherside

Sim finds a friend

A ray lurking on the bottom while we are out in our kayaks

Happy days - me and my pink kayak

Another windless day

Dorothy, Shirley and myself at our beach BBQ

John, Duncan and Sim and two very toasted cheese sarnies!

Good friends

You can't have a BBQ without toasted marshmallows

Moving from the beach into the sea....talking heads!

Its the season for waterspouts ;-(

Current Cut To Spanish Wells, Eluethera

Wandering Star at anchor by Current Cut

We sailed up to the north end of Eleuthera and approached the entrance at Current Cut on a falling tide. Following our waypoints and watching out for the shoals we zoomed through at nearly 10kts.

Approaching Current Cut

Racing through Current Cut

Anchoring just to the north of the cut we spent the night off the pretty beach and walked over to the settlement of Current reportedly the oldest community on the island. It’s quite amazing the town is still there as when hurricanes pass through they drown the small strip of land in seawater most recently with the passage of hurricane Andrew in 1992.  But somehow they seem to rebuild and recover and are a perfect example of Bahamian life where not a lot seems to go on. 

The quiet and quaint town of Current

As we walked through the pretty village, we barely saw another soul.  There was a man sitting on some steps to his porch and a couple of fishermen cleaning their days catch down on the dock. Apart from that all we felt was the relentless heat and wondered how we have managed to stay so long in these hot and humid countries.

The beautiful clear water of Current.

It’s that time of year again when the temperatures start to rise.  The weather becomes more unsettled.  Already we have had the thunderstorms and seen the waterspouts that the summer months bring.  We spend more time inside the boat to avoid the heat of the day; the outside is so hot the decks burn the bare soles of our feet.

The white spray on the water you can see is the result of a water spout developing above it.

We moved on to Spanish Wells the following day. I have heard about this place for many years and been keen to visit so I was a little surprised when Spanish Wells turned out to be a strange sort of place. There is nothing I can quite place my finger on to explain this; the people seem friendly enough and the sparsely spread out town is cute. There is just something not quite right about it.  I admit we have not spent a lot of time there. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my photos of Spanish Town but I suspect we might be passing back through so maybe the place will grow on us. The settlement is mostly white folk who are deeply religious with a long fishing history. The insular town is made up of two hundred year old houses.  The anchorage offers protection from the east but it’s not much to look at.  With the fluky winds we have been having we have preferred to anchor over by Meeks Patch where we can swim in the sea and walk on the beaches.  We took the kayaks out and snorkelled some of the coral heads close to shore where we were anchored

Walking the beach at Meeks Patch

This area hasn’t turned out quite as I expected it but the reason we are here is to see if we can make it through the perilous passage of the Devils Backbone preferably by ourselves and without the help of a pilot and to the infamous Harbour Island – Land of the rich and famous with pink sand beaches and a chic harbourside.

Small areas of coral and weed are dotted in the shallows at Meeks Patch

A cute little squid

Lots of rays

As well as the hot humid days we had had dark thunderous days as well.

Joining The Dots Up The ICW

Wandering Star approaching one of the many bridges

Motoring up the ICW is like playing a child’s game of dot to dot. Long hours are spent following the ICW markers, reds to greens, greens to red; inching our way northwards navigating our way through the shallow murky waters; everyday putting miles under our keel. Sometimes fighting the currents sometimes they help us – pushing us along at over 8kts. Sim and I take it in turn to drive. I have to say that I like this motoring malarkey, the  flat and protected waters of the ICW make it very comfortable, if only the cost of fuel didn’t make this (motoring) lifestyle so prohibitive for us – I could get very use to it!

Some of the big properties we pass along the way

We love the scenery and the wildlife and the vast open spaces.  We have seen hundreds of Pelicans, nesting terns, and the odd Ibis and osprey.  Dolphins grace us every day with their presence, and manatees and turtles too.  We pass huge mansions one minute and then desolate mangrove areas the next.  Because there is so much space (don’t forget we are Brits from a tiny island) towns and cities lay alongside rural waterways in perfect incongruous symmetry. 

The more rural parts in Florida

We said goodbye to Khaya Moya and Wild Blue with dinner on Wandering Star and made our way north pulling in at our first stop at Peck Lake, Hobe Sound.  We left the dinghy on the beach and walked over the short strip of land to the Atlantic beach – waters so different from the ones we are use to but just as stunning in their own right.  This is a fabulous place for beach combing – miles of vast coast stretching out before you.  Parts of the beach are sectioned off because of nesting terns and sea turtles.  We caught up with a nice couple from Dos Libres who had followed us through some of the many bridges on the ICW earlier that day.

Jupiter Beach at the Peck Lake anchorage, Hobe Sound

The following day we had a minor Oops moment in Fort Pierce when our anchor chain (possibly pilled in a heap by me) got wrapped around the anchor a couple of times. A right old mess ensued which took Sim a good hour to untangle by unshackling the anchor.  Thank goodness we had settled weather while we sorted that out.

We had one night at the popular and pretty Vero Beach, where we took fuel and water and a mooring for the night/ $15.  They have an excellent DIY laundry and a TV lounge you wait.  A free public bus can take you down to the beach or into town.  Sim and I went to the strip mall where I got cheap retail therapy thrills at the thrift shop.  The mooring field is a little buggy but the trio of dolphins swimming around our boat in the late afternoon made up for any discomfort.

 

Sim in the driving seat

Another longer day and we reach the cute little town of Cocoa.  We anchored off the town and left the dinghy at the very nice public dock.  This is an artsy fartsy town, full of quirky antique and curiosity shops, ice cream parlours and bars and bistros. The highlight for Sim was the ancient hardware store with a patriotic flag hung over the cash till next to a deer head complete with antlers.  Rooms lead off to side rooms, stairs lead to loft rooms with doors in the floor, outside lead to more shop floor which in turn lead to more warehouse style rooms – the place was deceptively large and had a medley of this and that all at not unreasonable prices.  “I apologise for the flea’s” the guy who was helping us said as he watched me scratching my legs. “We got feral cats and they got baby cats and they got fleas! – Can’t get rid of them – make sure yáll dust yourselves off real proper before you get back on yáll boat”.  The hardware stop was an experience not to be missed and they were real nice folks too. ;-)

The hardware store -

So we try and blend in with the natives.  Sim wears his cap back to front and dons his wife-beater (vest top) occasionally.  We are trying to learn the lingo – “Yes Mam”. “Ten Four” and “Roger that”.  And despite all the creepy, crawly, bitey things (fleas, noseeums and mosquitos) and the daily thunderstorms, we are having a fab time.

Steaming along at over 8kts with the current

Beach combing at Peck Lake

The cut from Peck Lake to Jupiter Beach

Land your dinghy by the Palm tree in Peck Lake

The cat decides the only place to be is in front of the chart plotter!

Public docks at Cocoa

The quaint and quirky town of Cocoa

Me driving

What Sim does while I drive

The white is the only part with enough depth for our boat

 

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