Goodbye Nassau, Hello Exumas!

We finally get the appropriate weather and make sail even further east to the northern Exumas.  It is a combination sail and motor, and after half a day we arrive at Allen’s Cay.  We attempt to anchor in the inside harbor, but crowding and swift currents push us lightly aground, and we beat a hasty exit once free.  The attraction of Allen’s Cay is the adjacent cay that is home to a group of friendly iguanas.  While maneuvering through the interior anchorage, we see several dozen iguanas greeting a dinghy full of visitors.  They swarm the people, hoping for handouts, and have even been known to bite a few toes if they don’t get what they want.  Our alternative anchorage is one cay down at Highbourne, and we enjoy a peaceful sunset without those nasty tidal currents or man-eating iguanas.

The next two days are spent one island further south at Norman’s Cay.  Again we anchor on the leeward side with a few other boats.  It’s a short dinghy ride to shore giving us an opportunity to finally wiggle our toes in the beautiful, powdery Exuma sand.  

Our commuter vehicle on the beach at Norman's Cay

We feel we have finally arrived.  There are a few roads on Norman’s Cay and even fewer people. Norman’s was once the home of notorious drug lord, Carlos Lehder.  For a while in the 70’s he ran a drug ring out of Norman’s, with the Bahamian government turning a blind eye, and is said to have had ties with the Medellin Cartel.  That didn’t seem to sit well with the US DEA, and after some raids and extradition from Columbia in 1988, Lehder got the pleasure of spending the rest of his life in a US federal prison.  All that remains of his venture is a potholed, paved airstrip, some ruins of buildings, and a sunken plane just off the runway.  We spend our time walking through the island and enjoying the vistas over the amazingly colored water.

A windy day overlooking the lagoon at Norman's Cay

We continue south to an anchorage off Warderwick Wells, the headquarters of the Exuma Land and Sea Park, the Bahama’s largest National Park.  We only spend one afternoon dinghying about and walking through a small section of the park grounds.  We are checking out the arrangements here for anchoring a deep draft boat and plan to be back for a more extended visit. What strikes us most, though, is how beautifully maintained we find the area.  The park rules are very stringent and well enforced, and visitors are the beneficiaries.

Our final destination for a while is the Staniel Cay area, in what is considered the central Exumas. We want to arrive before Christmas, and it is here that our son, Bryan and his girlfriend will fly in at the end of the month.  We’ve been on the move for a long time so an extended stay is most welcome.  We anchor just north of the Staniel Cay settlement at Big Majors Spot, a large anchorage protected from the predominate easterlies. 

Squall and rainbow over the Big Majors Spot anchorage

There are around 25 other boats anchored here, and we see many that we have met along the way. 

It doesn’t take long until the dinghy is launched, and we head to shore on Big Majors to do some investigating.  The southerly most beach overlooking the anchorage is known as Pig Beach. Why?  Because it is home to a small herd of pigs that are fairly friendly, probably because the cruisers bring them snacks.  When you head in to the landing, they swim out to check out what you have brought them.  We discover they like fresh apples supplied by the mega yachts over our dried up orange rinds. And we suspect the beach may be short one pig when the Yacht Club hosts their annual pig roast during the Christmas holidays. 

Another friendly begger

The next beach down is Pirate’s Beach, so named by the group of cruisers who spend most of their season here.  Several just spent two days cleaning up the storm damage left from a direct hit by Hurricane Irene this fall.  A few donated beach chairs reside under a tree, a fire pit has been built where the last of the storm debris is burning, and benches and a small table have been built for impromptu gatherings, the first of which will be that evening.  We dinghy over with 20 – 30 other people to enjoy drinks and snacks, and a spectacular view of the setting sun.  It’s well after dark before we wind our way through the maze of anchored boats back to Exuberant. 

We eventually head over to Staniel Cay Yacht Club.  The Yacht Club is actually a marina with some resort villas and a restaurant.  Christmas through New Years is the high point of their season with events planned for most days – it is a bee hive of activity.  We check out the settlement, particularly focusing on the small grocery stores and the home of the lady who makes bread.  It is all pretty minimal.  Restocking will be very expensive with limited options, and the bread lady is going to Nassau for the holidays. We come back the next day with bicycles, our vehicle of choice for taking over a week’s worth of garbage to the dump and exploring the remainder of the island. Views from the heights over the surrounding cays and channels are spectacular, reflecting the varied hues of blues and aquas the Bahamas are known for.  We hike down to a few beaches along the Exuma Sound coast to see the crashing waves and off shore reefs. 

Looking west along Staniel Cay shoreline

The north east corner of Staniel Cay

More at the NE corner of Staniel

Exuma Sound (east) side of Staniel

And we utilize the dinghy to visit some of the nearby cays, honing our visual navigation skills.  Many are uninhabited and surrounded by broad sand bores that invite exploring at low tide.  

Sand bore off Sandy Cay

We find beautiful shells and even a live sand dollar. 

Beautiful shell under crystal clear water

We take one tight cut just as the tidal currents are flowing full force and have our first experience taking a dinghy uphill.  Yes, the tides are a force to be reckoned with.  The dinghy is also our vehicle for snorkeling trips.  One of the high points of this area is the Thunderball Grotto, a small cay riddled with underwater caves.  It was here that a portion of the James Bond movie Thunderball was filmed.  Low tide slack is the optimum time to arrive, and we join a herd of other snorkelers to explore the interior.  The cay has an opening at the top that allows a beam of light to illuminate the structures and fish within.  To the east the cave opens onto the surrounding water, glowing a phosphorescent aqua in contrast to the dark interior.   

The grotto at Thunderball Cay

We take multiple passes through the cave and around the one side that is home to a beautiful coral garden. And finally, we feed the resident large school of sergeant majors some bread crumbs, finding ourselves in the midst of a feeding frenzy. They nibble at your toes and fingers and bump into your mask for an eye to eye demand for more.   

Do these fish look hungry?

There are a few other protected areas for snorkeling near our anchorage, and we do a little exploring there, also.  I find a venomous Lionfish in one crevasse, the first I have ever seen.  They are an invasive species here, and those who spear fish are encourage to kill them.  And, finally, there are the sharks.  They are everywhere, especially as you are just going into or getting out of the water as they take shelter from the mid-day sun under your boat hull.  We only see nurse sharks, and they are considered quite harmless. There must be at least a dozen of them residing under the yacht club docks. Nevertheless, it takes a little getting used to.

Christmas is here and without family, we decide to treat ourselves to a nice dinner out.  We are joined by another cruising couple anchored next to us, and we dinghy over to nearby Sampson Cay Yacht Club. I am quite a sight trying to exit a dinghy to a high dock with a long skirt and the ever present nurse sharks circling below! This is a lovely facility consisting of docks and several stone villas overlooking sand bores and adjacent cays.  The landscaping is lush and meticulously maintained, a surprise since it, too, took a direct hit from Irene.  We enjoy a multi-course dinner with a Bahamian flare; the food is a bit spicy and the table linens are made from local handmade batik.  But, it’s a little bizarre to hear Michael Jackson Christmas carols in the background.

Merry Christmas from Sampson Cay Yacht Club

So, shortly the kids arrive on a scheduled flight through Flamingo Air on a six to twelve seat puddle-jumper.  We will pick them up at the air strip with the dinghy – dinghy parking is a couple of hundred feet from the terminal which is actually just a small gazebo.  We will stay one night with them here at Staniel as the yacht club is hosting their annual Pirates Party, and we will have to scout that out.  Rumors have it that Johnny Deep made an appearance last year (he owns an island nearby), and that perhaps Jimmy Buffet might show up as he is making a tour of his top ten Caribbean beaches, one of which is at Staniel Cay.  Each day, mega-yachts in the 150 – 250 foot range come and go, participating in the various events, their crews and large tenders whizzing through the anchorage. Plans after that are quite flexible, a good thing if you are living the cruising life.

Nassau

Our new home in Nassau is the Nassau Harbor Club Marina.  It was once part of a luxurious Marriott resort but has fallen on hard times with the development of Paradise Island and the Atlantis resort complex just across the harbor from Nassau proper.  The hotel is now closed except for a few rooms still maintained for those awaiting departures on live-aboard dive boats. The restaurant is boarded up, but the pool is still open, clean but with only a few rickety pool chaises.  The once lush landscaping is now scrubby and worn.  We meet Peter, the long time dockmaster.  In his office are autographed and framed pictures of yachts that once docked here, including the Forbes yacht.  He is an interesting, proper gentleman, hailing from Greece but marrying into a Bahamian family and is the best dressed and most dignified dockmaster we have ever encountered.  He is reluctant to tell the story behind his Bahamian nickname, St. Peter, but we have read the details in one of our cruising guides.  For years local fisherman would capture and gruesomely slay turtles with the populations of many species in the Bahamas on the brink of extinction.  It was sufficiently disturbing that Peter put out the word that he was willing to buy any live turtle caught at the prices the fisherman could fetch at market for the meat and shells.  And, turtles don’t go cheap.  Over the years he bought somewhere around 150 turtles and nursed them back to health in pens within the confines of the marina.  He estimates his expenditures were over $30,000, but he did get help from some of the wealthy visitors to the marina, along with sponsorship from a prep school in Rhode Island that would send their students down to Nassau to help with the project.  The turtles were eventually transported to the Exuma Land and Sea Park, a place that forbids fishing or hunting.  Nowadays, the pens are empty and falling apart, but St. Peter can take some satisfaction that the government of the Bahamas has outlawed all capture of turtles for commercial purposes.

The state of the marina reflects the surrounding neighborhood.  The shopping center across the street contains a Starbucks and a few high end stores featuring imported luxury items along with stores meeting more basic needs.  I get my hair cut in a fairly glitzy salon where locals are stylishly dressed and freely spending on spa treatments. There is a drug store, computer store, book store, and a grocery store.  All the stores either have guards at the entrances or locked doors requiring a clerk to buzz you in. The grocery store is supposedly the best stocked one in the Bahamas.  It is big, but it is also barren.  Rows of freezer and refrigerator cases stand empty.  Where there was once an in-store bakery, the shelves display unfilled Keebler pie shells.  You might be able to get Tomato soup but don’t plan on finding Chicken Noodle.  Most of the meat on display is frozen and the ground beef has a funny color to it. We are no longer in the land of the plenty, but one wonders where do the Bahamians who frequent the luxury stores buy their groceries? The surrounding streets are crowded, dirty, and potholed.  The concrete and stucco buildings are crumbling at their edges.  Garbage lines the roadsides while every so often you come across a gated and well maintained villa fronting such roads.  Cross the bridge over to Paradise Island and you will find spotlessly clean streets, beautiful landscaping, luxury hotels and only tourists; the Bahamians are absent here. It is certainly a study in contrasts.

We spend a good portion of our time trying to sort out the internet problem.  It takes several trips by foot to the local Cyberworld store, a couple of miles away, along with intersession from a helpful clerk (Moses, who we now consider very close to being God) at the nearby computer store before it is up and running. We also try to extend our immigration status to six months but hit a wall of bureaucracy; we will have to visit a port of entry when our three month status is about to expire.  With the availability of dockside water we clean the boat of its accumulation of salt. The marina has a nice laundromat, so it’s time to also clean clothes.  And, of course, we purchase last minute supplies before heading to the Out Islands.

With chores completed, it is time to play tourist. The cruise ships dock at the far end of the harbor so we hoof it down there to check the scene out, about a five mile walk.  Near the docks is the local straw market, a place with tiny walkways, multitudes of stalls, and locals hawking trinkets to the cruise ship passengers. If you look closely you find that many of the souvenirs are manufactured in places like China and India. Around the corner are upscale stores selling duty free imported goods of all kinds – watches, jewelry, leather goods, and perfume.  Again, it is a study in contrasts.  Just around the corner and just in time for lunch we discover a genuine Burger King, and Burt gets the treat he has been craving for months – a Whooper and fries.  We haven’t eaten fast food since April. We keep walking towards some beaches frequented by the cruise ship passengers and locals.  

Junkanoo Beach Nassau

 Even further, we come to the Ardastra Zoo and Gardens, our final destination.  While the variety and quantity of animals is less than impressive, the grounds are quite interesting.  It is a tropical garden originally opened in the 1930’s and still reasonably maintained.   

Jaguars at the zoo

Garden settings at the zoo

What we really came to see, though, is the flock of marching flamingos.  You haven’t lived until you’ve seen marching flamingos. Walking into the flamingo area, you are surrounded by the tame birds.  They stroll along the path with you, they snooze in grassy patches, standing on one leg with head tucked under a wing, they look you in the eye, nose to beak, and they squawk and fuss among themselves with little regard to the gathering people.  

A group of flamingos

This flamingo must practice yoga

At the appointed time, their trainer gathers them together and herds them into a small arena.  Here the birds march on command and change directions whenever “about face” is shouted. It is truly an amazing sight that was once featured in National Geographic.

The drill sargent corrals the troops

We enjoy an active social life with the other marina residents.  Most evenings are spent sharing drinks and munchies at sunset.  We compare stories of our passages south and plans for future cruising.  It is an international crowd with Americans in the minority and a surprising percentage of Canadians.  One evening we host a group consisting of one Canadian and her husband from the Netherlands, a Scotsman, and his wife from England. Towards the end of our stay we go with another couple to a very nice restaurant on the waterfront for what to us is a fancy dinner.  It is a fitting end to our stay in Nassau and a last opportunity for a little luxury before we head to the undeveloped areas of the Exuma Out Islands.

Nassau seems a bit of a conundrum.  It is mostly rundown, dirty, and crowded, but there are places that are pristine.  The waterfront has spectacular beaches, but also trashy industrial areas accommodating the freighters.  The community has a reputation for crime, but we mostly encounter friendly, smiling people and never feel threatened. Nassau would never be considered a cruising destination, but our stop here provided safe harbor in challenging weather and an opportunity to make final preparations for our voyage into the Exumas.

Bahamas Bound

The weather forecast finally gives us a window to head across the Gulf Stream to Bimini.  We are looking for gentle breezes that come from any direction other than north, and we get about 24 hours of light easterly winds.  True, we will have to motor to Bimini but that is a small price to pay.  That night boats begin to congregate near No Name Harbor on Key Biscayne.  Some choose to crowd inside the small harbor while others decide to anchor outside along with us.  We hear a few more on the radio arriving in nearby locations.  Four in the morning is the bewitching hour.  In the darkness we hear engines starting up and anchors being hoisted. We see anchor lights turn into running lights, and it off to the Atlantic for a parade of at least 13 boats.  The waters are flat, and it’s a beautiful vista to look back as the fleet winds its way through the shallows south of Key Biscayne and out into the ocean.  We find ourselves in the lead and perhaps that is a good thing.  There is plenty of commercial traffic out on the water, coming from and going into the south Florida ports.  Our AIS proves invaluable in tracking the traffic, and we are able to communicate the locations and names of freighters to those boats behind us. One unlucky freighter has set its course to Miami directly through the fleet.  Most boats make changes to their headings to avoid any close encounters, but one trawler insists that the freighter should change course.  As many of us know, the whole idea of right-of-way goes out the window when you are looking at the bow of an 800 foot freighter. It takes some forceful explanation by the freighter to convince the trawler of this concept.  Listening to their radio exchange, we laugh as the trawler is aptly named “Life is Short”.

The feared crossing turns into a cake walk.  Forty miles later we head into the confusing channel towards North Bimini Island.  The water turns from the sapphire blue of the Gulf Stream to the intense aqua of the inshore waters.  I am on the bow of the boat, watching water colors to gauge depths when I see a school of rays scooting along the sand bottom under our keel.  The channel is poorly marked with missing and perhaps misplaced markers; it is quite different from the wonderful navigational aids managed by the US Coast Guard.  We avoid grounding but several others aren’t as fortunate, although all seem to easily extricate themselves from the sandy shoals.  We tie up at one of the small marinas in time for lunch and a quick trip to customs and immigration.  Everyone is all smiles as Bahamian courtesy flags are hoisted, celebrating finally arriving in the Bahamas!  The afternoon provides an opportunity to walk through the small community and take a swim on the ocean side of the island in incredibly clear water.

Swimming beach at Bimini

Nearby wreck of an inter-island freighter

We will be in Bimini for a few days as the wind is again kicking up her heels.  Bimini is both interesting and a bit sorry.  

Amazing what you see along the streets in Bimini

 We were warned of the poverty we would encounter, but it is still unsettling.  The marina provides good security, and we have been assured that serious crime is non-existent.  Yet, the infrastructure is crumbling; buildings are in various stages of decay and the streets are riddled with pot holes and trash.  The people are friendly on the surface, but we wonder if there is some underlying resentment when the “rich” Americans begin to arrive.  We take time to begin our quest for phone and data service from Batelco, the Bahamas Telephone Company.  While in Bimini, we visit the office frequently; phone service is fairly easy to acquire on our American smart phone, but data is proving more challenging.  We seem to be spending inordinate amounts of time in the office waiting room trying to make progress, and we finally give up with the intention of starting over in Nassau.  But the high point of wandering the streets is finding an outstanding bakery.  The Bahamas are known for their excellent homemade bread, and we feast on coconut bread that almost floats out of your hand.

Meanwhile there is time to explore the island, both on foot and by bike.  We pedal to the north end of the island to see the exclusive Bimini Bay Resort, quite a contrast from the settlements to the south.  It is pristine with lovely large homes overlooking the water, pools, beaches, marinas, restaurants, and shops, all in a beautifully landscaped setting.  

Ocean side homes at Bimini Bay resort

The only unusual aspect is that there are virtually no visitors.  The marina which would hold hundreds of boats has only five at best.  There are only two people sitting by the free-form infinity pool.  And yet, they are building a casino and another neighborhood of multi-million dollar homes and condos.  Perhaps no one heard that the economy isn’t exactly thriving.

We stop by the boatyard of Ansel Saunders.  Ansel is an older gentleman who has made quite a name for himself as a bonefishing guide, builder of fine wooden fishing skiffs, and as an important figure in the history of Bimini.  We get an opportunity to see an almost complete skiff and hear his stories of his life in Bimini.  

Ansel by his latest project

 Ansel’s greatest claim to fame is connected with the relation that Adam Clayton Powell had with Bimini.  Due to legal entanglements, Powell found himself exiled to Bimini.  One of his closest friends was Martin Luther King who often visited Powell’s home on Bimini, and Ansel had the pleasure of acting as a bonefishing guide to them on occasions.  One time, King came to Bimini to escape the pressures he was under in the States and to write what he thought would be an important speech.  He spent that time with Ansel, cruising through the mangroves as he tried to consolidate his thoughts.  Three days later he was shot, and Ansel was credited with giving him some peace during the last days of his life.  It is a distinction that continues to be celebrated as just recently Ansel received a plaque from the American government recognizing his contribution to the civil rights movement. Over the years he has been recognized by dignitaries from both the United States and England, including two meeting with the Queen.  He shows us many pictures of such events.

Dolphin House, the home of Ansel's brother, a noted naturalist

The weather is improving but we decide to stay an additional day.  It is the community’s Christmas celebration and Junkanoo parade.  Starting at dusk, vendors set up in the center of the town and school children begin performing on the outdoor stage of the cultural center.  We see singing groups, dancers, and instrumental ensembles from the local school.  Some are decent, some strain the ears, but it is wonderful to see families together enjoying their children’s accomplishments and the spirit of the season.   

Performers at the Christmas program

It is just that Christmas music and nativity scenes still seem out of place under palm trees. At 9 pm we hear the distant drumming of the Junkanoo band.  Junkanoo is a celebration of freedom that has its roots in Africa.  Many Bahamian communities put together Junkanoo bands which are composed of brass instruments, goat skin and steel drums, whistles, horns, and one or more costumed dancers.  It is like something out of “Stomp” crossed with a high school marching band, and it is hard not to bounce along with the intense beat.  In Bimini it is just half an hour of loud chaos; in larger communities like Nassau it rivals Trinidad’s Carnival with the prime days of celebration being Boxing Day and News Year’s Day.

Bimini's Junkanoo group

We check weather once more and make the decision to cross over the Great Bahama Bank, transverse the Northwest Channel of the Tongue of the Ocean and duck into an anchorage in the Berry Islands.  It’s a trip of over 90 nm. This route is one of the few you would take at night, and this is good as we will arrive at our destination around midnight.  We start with the wind on our nose so we motor through choppy waters until we reach a navigational mark that allows us to turn more off the wind and begin sailing.  We are sailing across waters only 15 feet deep but are totally out of sight of any land. It is a bumpy ride along a path taken by many inter-island freighters. Fortunately they are all well lit and using AIS, so we have no problem avoiding unplanned encounters.  As we exit the banks the bottom drops off into depths many thousands of feet deep. The wind keeps building, the waves get bumpier, and we are relieved to pull into our anchorage, drop the hook, and dive into bed exhausted. The next morning we are seeing gusts into the 30’s.  One boat is anchored nearby in the lee of an island; all the others are up a narrow channel with considerable exposure to the wind and seeing 2-3 foot waves in their anchorage. We are slightly uncomfortable; they are very uncomfortable. 

We wait another day at the anchorage and receive an invitation from a home owner on shore to join the other cruisers for a potluck supper. But we see we have the last opportunity to head to Nassau before the winds really kick up, so we decide to continue on.  Some boats in the area feel the conditions are too challenging, but along with four other boats, we head out to Nassau.  It’s only 32 nm – how bad could it be?  We progress under sail although the wind is quite tight; the other boats motor sail which will make their passage more uncomfortable.  We are seeing winds in the mid-20’s with a few higher gusts, and the waves are averaging a steep 8 feet with a few larger ones mixed in for good measure.  The boat handles it well if you ignore the contents of several cupboards that dump on to the floor.  The crew spends their time bracing themselves against all the motion.  Just as we approach Nassau Harbor, the depths come up along with even steeper waves.  

Finally inside the Nassau breakwall

All give a sigh of relief as we enter the shelter of the harbor. Immediately inside we find four huge cruise ships at the docks.  

Cruise ships docked in Nassau

We motor through the anchorage seeing several other boats we have met along the way. But, we will go to a marina in Nassau.  The holding in the harbor is poor and crime is an issue.  Our marina has secure docks and security guards on duty – it seems like a wise, albeit expensive decision. This night we celebrate our arrival in Nassau with several other boats that have also made the grueling passage, knowing the next few days will see winds in the low 30’s – rum is the only logical antidote to the day’s adventure.

Exuberant at dock - our next door neighbor is a 95' Riva luxury yacht

Following the Magenta Line

Vero Beach is living up to its nickname, Velcro Beach.  Boats continue to flood into the mooring field, and we find ourselves rafted up at our mooring ball with one or two other boats at any given time.   

The busy mooring field at Vero Beach

It’s a great way to get to know your neighbors up close and personal, and in one instance that includes one neighbor’s mixed Siamese cat that seems to know we are “cat-friendly” people.  It is strange to wake up on a boat to the sound of meows outside the portholes – “please come out and pet me”. We stay through Thanksgiving to enjoy the huge cruisers’ gathering for the holiday, and the festivities are worth the wait.  No one is going to leave hungry as there is turkey aplenty along with a huge selection of side dishes brought by all the boats.  We help with the set up and claim a table out on the patio, under the swaying palm trees with a view of the harbor, quite a contrast from the typical Thanksgiving setting.  Afterwards, everyone lingers until sunset, entertained by a local popular guitar player accompanied by several other talented musicians from the visiting boats. 

Thanksgiving dinner cruiser style

And some darn good music to follow

Our plan is to leave the ICW at Fort Pierce and head out into the Atlantic, sailing along the coast until just south of Miami.  This southern part of the ICW has many bridges that only open on limited schedules, so it is slow going inside while you await bridge openings.  Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating, and we find ourselves awaiting a safe weather window.  We’ve been in Vero for fifteen days, our longest layover of our trip.  Thanksgiving is past, and we begin to see Christmas decorations and hear carols; all seem out of context when it is sunny and in the 80’s. With the exception of voracious no-see-ums, it’s been a pleasant stay, the beach is beautiful and we even enjoy Sunday brunch out with other cruisers at a café along the water.  

The beautiful beach at Vero - just a short bike ride from the boat

Not a bad view for Sunday Brunch

 We’ve made many new friends as Happy Hour has become an art form here. But, it’s time to move on.

We finally get our weather window and a sizable group leaves with us for the final leg south.  With a passage of approximately 24  hours, we time our departure to insure that we will arrive at our destination in daylight.  It’s a beautiful day and just as we make our turn east to exit the Fort Pierce Inlet, we see two dolphins and a pelican harassing one another with the pelican actually landing briefly on one of the dolphins.  It is quite a show and distracts us from our task of raising sails in close quarters.  The ocean is relatively flat with pleasant winds out of the northwest, and we scoot along with speeds over 7 knots about 3 miles off the shore.  The parade of south Florida towns with their beaches and high rise condos dots the shoreline.  We witness a beautiful sunset and enjoy the sailing until the wind suddenly kicks up and the seas become quite confused. In our running lights we see flying fish leaping from our bow wake, our boat speed drops dramatically, and the water temperature goes up.  We have mistakenly veered into the Gulf Stream in the process of avoiding a freighter and have broken the cardinal rule of Gulf Stream sailing - never enter the stream when you have wind with a north component as the wind versus current phenomena results in some unpleasant conditions.  A change of course is dictated and after reefing and heading back towards shore, the rest of the night becomes a non-event. The only casualties are two dead flying fish we find on deck the next morning. 

One Gulf Stream casualty on Exuberant's deck

Dawn sees us off Fort Lauderdale and shortly thereafter off Miami. 

Miami from off shore in the morning

We make our turn to shore just south of Key Biscayne to drop anchor off No-name Harbor. In 26 hours we have covered 132 nm and saved ourselves several days of motoring down the ICW, to say nothing of all the headaches associated with the bridges. 

No-name Harbor is part of Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, a place we had visited several years ago with our trimaran sailboat.  The harbor tends to get packed so we choose to anchor just outside with the island giving us excellent protection from north and east winds, to say nothing of the gorgeous vistas of Miami to the north and Biscayne Bay National Park to the south.   

The view towards Miami from Exuberant

Exuberant anchored off Key Biscayne - we are the sailboat with one mast

We can easily dinghy in to the park to enjoy its bike trails through the tropical hammock and spectacular beach on the Atlantic side which rates as one of Dr. Beach’s top ten beaches in the United States. 

The Ibis family has reserved this picnic table in the park.

The Atlantic beach at Cape Florida

A large working lighthouse graces the southern tip of the Key and is open to the public, or at least to those with the energy to climb to the top.  

Cape Florida Lighthouse - 109 steps to the top!!

 This southern tip of Key Biscayne was originally home to tribes of pre-Columbian Indians.  They were ousted by pirates that prowled these waters, and then the area became a staging point for the Underground Railroad, transporting runaway slaves to the safe haven of the Bahamas.  It’s beauty and history are now protected from development through the efforts of Bill Baggs, once the editor of the Miami Herald. The park, itself, has two outdoor restaurants, and we treat ourselves to a couple of meals out with another boat which is traveling with us. We can leave the park on our bikes to go into the city of Key Biscayne.  It is one of the cleanest, tidiest towns we’ve ever seen.  The landscaping in both public and private spaces is meticulously maintained, and the streets look clean enough to eat from.  The high rise condos and mansions start in the low millions and go up from there.   The local population is mostly Hispanic with roots from Cuba, South, and Central America.  It is unusual to hear English spoken. 

The Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway is commonly known as the Magenta Line as this is how it is depicted on our charts and chartplotter.  It stretches from Norfolk, VA to Key West, FL, a distance of 1243 statute miles.  We are exiting it at milepost 1096 as it is here, at Key Biscayne, that we are staging for our crossing of the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. It has been an amazing journey so far, sometimes taxing our energy and patience as we find ourselves challenged by necessities of daily living, weather, and navigation.  Our boat has provided us with safe, reliable transportation and comfortable quarters. We have seen incredible landscapes and witnessed a variety of wildlife in its native habitat. We have seen a portion of our country’s history and culture from a unique perspective. We have made many new friends who share our love of boating.  They have given us help and encouragement during the difficult times, and shared our joys during lighter moments – we are indeed very fortunate.

Floating Through Florida

Our nemesis over the past week or so finally got a name ­– Tropical Storm Sean.  This slow developing low has been hanging out between Bermuda and the Bahamas with a weather system in the States blocking it from moving on.  We are being battered with strong northerly winds that preclude venturing anywhere out on the Atlantic.  Many boats have decided to just hunker down until things improve, but we feel protected from the worst weather on the ICW and keep moving on.

Northeast Florida starts out much like Georgia.  We are still winding through a labyrinth of creeks, man made canals, and marshes (or if you’re getting a little bored, they would become swamps).  We continue to be challenged by water depths, requiring that we plan to be in certain known shoaling areas at high tide.  And, the high tides are currently before sunrise and closing in on dusk, limiting the time you can be safely underway.  We just aren’t making much progress south, but even at this slow pace we begin to see a change in our surroundings.  At the St. Johns River, which leads to Jacksonville, we pass a boat yard filled with Azmut Super Yachts being serviced or refitted.  These mammoths are in the 150 – 200 foot range and it challenges our imagination to think who might own them or be aboard. We pass by St. Augustine, stopping for an hour to await a bridge opening.  The fort on the waterfront beckons but we will continue on, hoping to see it on another trip.  The waterway begins to straighten out; homes look less “deep south” and more like south Florida architecture with tile roofs and stucco exteriors.  

Rainbow over Palm Bay

 The high condos of Daytona Beach can be seen a few miles in the distance. There are more palm trees and less live oaks.  And, finally, the sun comes out and it gets warm.  Yes, we’ve made it to Florida.

We spend a night anchored at Cocoa Beach and see two manatees off the dinghy dock.  

Just the tip of a shy manatee

A walk takes us to the old town populated by trendy restaurants, art galleries, boutiques, and the largest hardware store on the east coast.  Guess where we spend all of our time!  Burt asks why would you want to be anywhere else when you can browse the maze of aisles to find 5 foot crescent wrenches, pith helmets, polypropylene line at least 4 inches in diameter, and an amazing assortment of stainless steel hardware, all covered in years’ worth of dust.  What can I say???

Burt in Nirvana

    

Our surroundings change again as we enter the Indian River.  If you would look out at this river you would see a wide expanse of water, but don’t be fooled.  Except for the dredged channel of the ICW, everything else is only 1 – 5 feet deep.  Again, there’s no opportunity for daydreaming when you are on the helm.  

Indian River vista

The Indian River takes you past Cape Canaveral where you can still see the shuttle infrastructure that is now obsolete.  But, most of our path is through the Merritt Island National Wildlife refuge.  On one small island we see a large flock of white pelicans spotted with the bright pink of a number of roseate spoonbills which I initially thought were flamingos. Ibis, brown pelicans, egrets, herons, and osprey are a dime a dozen and dolphins are everywhere.   

Community of Brown Pelicans

At one point we are adopted by a dolphin which stays within a foot or two of our boat, next to where we are sitting.  It certainly is trying to make some sort of contact and leaves us only when we have to slow down for a shallow area.

Getting a picture of a dolphin is always a challenge - here's our friend

Our next destination is Melbourne where we will attend another Seven Seas Cruising Association Gam.  

The Goodyear Blimp flies over our anchorage welcoming us to Melbourne

 The anchorage is windblown so our nights are fairly bouncy.  Days are spent attending seminars on cruising topics and socializing with others who share similar interests.  It seems to be an entirely new group of people as we see few familiar faces from our previous gam in Annapolis. That isn’t an issue though as, once again, we meet many friendly people. It’s a diverse group with new cruisers like us, people who have done multiple circumnavigations, and everything in between. We gather much information that will make our upcoming trip to the Bahamas easier, and being newbies to the cruising life, people are very willing to offer their assistance and encouragement.

Our pace is slowing now.  We travel one day south from Melbourne to the mooring field in Vero Beach where we will stay until after Thanksgiving.  Along the way, we marvel at the huge estates on John Island – it’s getting pretty ritzy around here. 

Typical home on John Island

Vero Beach has been nicknamed Velcro Beach as the marina and mooring ball facility are so nice and accommodating that people have a hard time leaving.  After weeks of struggling to find water, fuel, groceries, and laundromats, tying up here will be a pleasant change.  We see many of the boats we have met or heard on the radio along the way and happy hours with other boaters become an almost daily ritual.  Many are also staying for Thanksgiving as this is a major event here.  The cruisers put on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, via the pot-luck method, at a nearby pavilion. We have been told that typically the mooring field will be jammed and several hundred people will attend.

We have a lot to accomplish while in Vero.  Routine maintenance and housekeeping get done. Our repaired radar is awaiting us when we arrive, and Burt gets to take a trip up the mast to install it. He is also finally able to resolve the battery charger issue with a trip via rental car to Fort Lauderdale.  We will have to fight to get them to honor the warranty on our defective unit, but at least we now have a new one to install and can feel a little more relaxed about our electrical usage.  With Burt gone for the day to Lauderdale, I do my first solo operating the dinghy.  Winds are gusting in the upper 20’s, and the anxiety must be apparent on my face.  Others on the dinghy dock shout words of encouragement and jump to help me tie up. I am busy provisioning for the Bahamas, and it is a little easier as I can use the rental car for a few hours. Also, the city has an excellent free bus service for when we are without a car.  Word is that you need to pack the boat to the gills as foods that we are accustomed to are hard to find or very expensive in the Bahamas.  My shopping spree for provisions for 5 – 6 months just about breaks the bank, to say nothing of our backs, and we will be finding supplies stored in some very strange places in the boat.  A spreadsheet of the inventory is a necessity to avoid the “lost onboard” syndrome.

We also take some time to enjoy Vero.  The marina/mooring field is adjacent to a very nice, established neighborhood, and it’s less than a mile by bike to the ocean beaches.  After so many days inland from the ocean we enjoy the opportunity to wiggle our toes in the sand and wade along the miles of beaches with breaking Atlantic waves. It’s warm or perhaps even downright hot, and we have reason to finally break out the sunscreen. 

A windy day at Vero Beach

Across the street from the ocean are the trendy shops and restaurants of Vero Beach.  You know it’s a pretty upscale place when the majority of cars in the grocery store parking lot are Mercedes or better. 

We have traveled over 1200 miles since leaving Annapolis.  Staying put for a while is a nice sensation. We better take care as we’re starting to sense the presence of velcro.

At sunset a heron stands watch over the dinghy dock at Vero Marina