Georgia

We pulled into a slip in Brunswick Landing Marina in Brunswick, GA on Sunday, May 24. Our time here will include installing new batteries and solar panels and checking out the entire electrical system.

We were stuck in Mayport, FL for five days. After 13.3 inches of rain, Mayport, Jacksonville, and surrounding areas were looking for sunshine and so were we. The St. John's River flowing (more like running) by Mayport hosts numerous fishing boats, cruise ships, a casino ship, pleasure craft, and a ferry that takes cars and passengers on the water portion of A1A between Mayport and St. George island. The ferry is pictured on the left.

We took a beating from the storm, the current, the flooding water, the large boat traffic and the dilapidated fuel dock that we were tied to. We lost four dock lines and have a noticable spot on our hull that will need to be refinished.

Both a large Naval Station and Coast Guard Station are headquartered here. So their craft are on the water often as well.

We thought we would just travel up the ICW to Fernandina, FL, but the rain continued, flooding began, and the Coast Guard cautioned that the ICW was hazardous due to debris. The weather, soon labeled as a Nor'easter, calmed some but hung on during the week.

Deciding that we just had to leave, on Saturday morning we untied the lines and headed back out the long St. John’s channel. This Navy submarine was coming in. The Coast Guard let us know to 'Stay Away' from both the submarine and the large navy shop going out the channel.



After several hours, with rain falling and a likely chance of a squall, we turned into the St. Mary’s channel to spend the night in Fernandina.

Located on Amelia Island in the northeast corner of Florida along the Atlantic Coast, Fernandina is a Victorian seaport village with small-town charm, southern hospitality, and rich history.

In the early 1900’s, Fernandina’s docks were among the South’s busiest and the numerous saloons offered a welcome to ships from across the globe. The Palace Saloon earned the distinction of being the “Ship Captains Bar.” Today, the saloon still has the original inlaid mosaic floors, embossed tin ceilings, and a 40-foot bar lit with gas lamps.

Having visited the area while attending a tile conference on Amelia Island years ago, we enjoyed touring the town again.

The ICW between Fernandina and Brunswick is very shallow with lots of shoaling, so we went back out the St. Mary’s channel (9 miles), 20 miles north to the St. Simon channel, then 10 + miles to Brunswick Landing. We saw no sunshine, but we encountered no squalls or even rain, so it was a good trip and we are delighted to be in a slip for a while.

Now Why Did We Leave the Bahamas?

Three blogs in three days! But this third blog brings our travels up-to-date and is posted from our current location of Mayport, FL, twenty miles from Jacksonville.

Larry's log of our crossing:

Saturday morning, May 16, Sea Dancer, Southern Estates and Solar Eclipse leave just ahead of us as we all go west across the Abacos and the Little Bahama Bank. With a light wind at our backs, we motor sail. Late in the afternoon, our friends turn southwest to stop at an anchorage by the Mangrove waypoint for a couple hours of rest and then sail on to Ft. Pierce, FL, while Paula and I keep going west for we are going to Brunswick, GA to work on our boat. Doug on Solar Eclipse, had recommended someone there to help us with some of the work.

Around midnight, we entered the Atlantic and headed into the Gulf Stream. The wind was light and the seas were 2-3 feet, very comfortable conditions. We angled our direction so that we would be in the Gulf Stream for as long as possible, letting it push us along. We were 50-60 miles off shore. We would leave the Stream as we headed toward the Ponce de Leon to spend Sunday night in Daytona Beach. The wind continued to be light, and even with the Gulf Stream current, our progress was not as good as I had planned, and making the Ponce de Leon inlet before dark was not looking good. I avoid going into an unfamiliar inlet at night. Paula suggested we go in at Cape Canaveral, but it was still early in the day. I said, "Let's just sail on to Georgia; we can make it before the bad weather and we will be there." Big Mistake! We continued to go with the Stream for a while, but then angled away from it; we needed to get out of it as the front, and possible north wind, approached. Counter current, eddie, I don't know! Here comes the wind, rain, lightning and we are going very slow. By morning winds are in the 30's, and up to 40 knots. The seas are building larger and the swells were too. We are going so slow that we can't make the Brunswick inlet (40 nautical miles away) by nightfall. Paula said it seemed as if we were in slow motion as we watched the boat travel the waves and swells so expertly. We decided to turn toward St. Mary's inlet (20 nautical miles due west) on the Georgia/Florida border. I build up some nerve to make the turn and three big waves pass and then a smaller one that I turn on top of. I don't believe it. We are going 8 knots with 3 reefs in our mainsail with no staysail or jib up. We were going 2 knots before we turned. I don't like the angle of the waves going to the St. Mary's inlet, so we turn just a few degrees to port and go to the Jacksonville, Florida inlet on the St. Johns River. A pod of dolphins joined us for an hour, adding a bit of sunshine to a rainy, windy day.

We stopped at the first marina we came to, which is in Mayport. The marina is being remodeled, so we are tied up on the outside of the only dock left and have had sustained 40 to 50 knot wind and 10 inches of rain. We have 8 docks lines on and every fender that we have plus a few from the marina. We are in the process of replacing our voltage regulator, which was apparently hit by lightning, though we never saw it happen. Our wind generator also is not working and was probably also hit, but we'll have that checked later.

We were never in any danger of anything happening to us, but weather service, such as Chris Parker (a former sailboat cruiser) weather reports, are so good these days that you do not need to get into bad weather while cruising and be uncomfortable at sea. Although it was kind of fun!

Only a Few More Stops

We left Hope Town for a one-night anchorage off Great Guana Cay. On the beach, we could see evidence of the beginnings of a resort that was never finished, not an unusal sight in the Bahamas. The next morning we traveled the Whale Cay Cut and Passage. The Passage goes through the cut to the ocean and then back through a narrower cut into the Sea of Abaco. Rocks and coral close to the marked passage make this passage a little intimidating, but the channel is deep plus we had fairly calm seas and winds and motor-sailed though the passage uneventfully.

Green Turtle Cay was a short twelve miles away and we dropped anchor just off the settlement of New Plymouth, the only settlement on the island. We enjoyed walking around this historic town that has retained its old-world charm. In the center of town is a large bronze sculpture garden in memory of the Loyalist settlers. We had been told to be sure to stop at Miss Emily’s Blue Bee Bar for a Goombay Smash, so we did and we certainly were not disappointed. Somehow, we knew to limit ourselves to just one. We bought a few groceries and enjoyed browsing a shop that was filled with specialty and island-made gifts.

We would have liked to stay another night, but lots of wind plus squalls with even higher wind were predicted. Like our friends on Mariah and Gypsy Song, we planned to sit out the weather between Manjack and Crab Cays, just a few miles from Green Turtle Cay. Before we left, we motored into the Green Turtle Cay Marina for our last opportunity in the Bahamas for fuel and water. The marina is in a small body of water on the cay called White Sound. The channel is less than six feet, so we went in on a rising tide. We pulled up to the dock for fuel and water; as soon as we moved off the dock, Solar Eclipse pulled up. As we motored out of White Sound, the tide was already going down, and we were all relieved to be back out in 8-10 feet of water for our short trip to the anchorage. Who would have thought we would be glad to see 8-10 feet of water?

Five miles later, we pulled into the protected bay of Manjack Cay. We quickly saw why this lush island is popular among cruisers. The area is beautiful with several beaches and the anchorage is a large protected bay. We had over twenty boats, but we were not at all crowded. Surprisingly, we could get wifi, if we sat in the cockpit and had direct line of site to the tower. A family in one of the two inhabited houses on the cay has erected a tall tower and is OK with cruisers picking up wifi. They also encourage cruisers to explore the beaches. In shallow water just off the beach by their house, they have built a small tiki-style hut that has drop-down swings and hammocks. Several trails have been cleared and are well-marked, including one to the ocean side beach. We enjoyed beachcombing and spotting rays, starfish, turtles, conch, and fish in the crystal clear water. We walked the ocean trail that had been cleared of mangroves and other shrubs/trees. Those of us on Solar Eclipse, Mariah, Gypsy Song, Ariel, and Lapidus plus guests from a few other boats gathered for a breakfast on the beach and an evening cookout with a bonfire on a different beach.

Aware that our days in the Bahamas were numbered, we wanted to enjoy all the last precious days. We had several rains with increased wind, but the weather was more enjoyable than stormy.

On Saturday, May 16, at 6:30 AM, Chris Parker reported that Saturday and Sunday offered a fairly good weather window; then weather would deteriorate again. This was a surprise; we thought we would be tucked in for a few more days. Ron from Sea Dancer and Southern Estates had anchored in the bay the night before. Ron checked with Chris on leaving Saturday with the destination of the Ft. Pierce Florida inlet. We also called in during Chris’ SSB weather report requesting information about going feven further north than Ft. Pierce. Our destination of Brunswick, GA was probably too far for just two days, but we hoped we could go in the Ponce de Leon inlet (Daytona Beach). Chris encouraged everyone to be in by Sunday evening before a cold front developed around 30N, the Jacksonville area. By 8:30 am, Sea Dancer and Southern Estates were underway; an hour later Solar Eclipse and Lapidus were also headed across the Sea of Abaco, USA bound.

Touring the Abacos

Five miles after leaving our overnight anchorage in Royal Island, we turned north toward the Abacos. We had a great sail for the remaining 49.30 miles to first destination, Little Harbour. We really enjoy sailing with Doug and Marlene on Solar Eclipse. It’s their first trip to the Bahamas too, so all of us are always excited to see new places. Even on long sails such as this one, we drop anchor within about 15 minutes of each other. From Halifax, Nova Scotia, they are seasoned sailors who raced competitively for many years. They always have great sail trim on their 38-foot Island Packet. There are as many Canadians as Americans cruising the Bahamas and most those we have met have a racing background.

We had been told that the anchorages on the beaches around Little Harbour are beautiful and that Pete’s Pub is not to be missed. All of the is true, but we discovered much more.

Randolph Johnston was an assistant professor at Smith College in Massachusetts. In 1950, he resigned his position; he and his family began the search for their own island on which they would carve both a home and a sculptor’s workshop. They sold their home, stored their art, drove to Florida, flew to Nassau and took the mail boat to Man-O-War Cay, known for building quality boats. Here, they had their schooner Langosta built. After much sailing in the Bahamas, looking for their personal island, they discovered Little Harbour, only a few miles south of Man-O-War cay.

While at the Gallery on Little Harbour, we purchased one of the four dusty, yellowing Artist on His Island, which was printed in 1975, and includes many entries from Professor Johnston’s original diary as well as a number of the artist’s drawings. The excerpts are beautifully written and highlight adventures, misadventures, trials, and triumphs. In the art world, Randolph Johnston is considered one of the great sculptors of the twentieth century. But this family’s amazing life on the island remains relatively unknown.

While other families do now also live on the island, much of Little Harbour remains in the hands of Professor Johnston’s three sons, but only Pete maintains a relatively high profile with a gallery devoted to his father’s work, his work, and the work of other local artists, and Pete’s Pub, a shack bar on the beach that turns out really good pub grub and is a fun place.
For more info, vist www.petespubandgallery.com

After leaving our lovely anchorage, we sailed out of Little Harbour with Marsh Harbour as our next stop. We could have stayed in the shallow bank side, known in this area as the Sea of Abaco. We chose to go out the cut and sail on the ocean side; the route was straight and more direct. From Marsh Harbour we planned to make short sails to other cays and their unique settlements.

Marsh Harbour is the “big city” of the Abacos. The harbor is spacious and secure and the town offers many facilities for boaters. We saw cruisers at anchorage that we’ve met along the way, plus we were able to catch up with many of them at the local Happy Hours.

One day when the wind was light and the Sea of Abaco pretty calm, we decided to take a dingy trip to Man-O-Was Cay to visit some friends of Doug and Marlene’s and tour the island. We didn’t see the anchorage as we thought we would, so we pulled into the marina and went ashore. We quickly discovered we had motored to Great Guana Cay, not to our planned stop. Unless there is a landmark, such as a Batelco tower, the cays in this area look similar, and we had just not headed east enough when we left Marsh Harbour. We had a good laugh and thirty minutes later, we were meeting Tuck and Kathy on Mariah and Jake and Amy on Gypsy’s Song. After a beer and another chuckle about our dingy travels, we all went into town for lunch and to walk around this community of Loyalist descendants, known for their shipbuilding. Today their heritage of Abaco runabouts is seen in the United States as well as the Bahamas (the ferry boats). Our five-mile trip back to Marsh Harbour was rough, but, thankfully, the shortest trip of the day.

In the Abacos, everyone stops by Marsh Harbour, but after catching up with other cruisers, boat maintenance, and provisioning, most of us are ready for a quieter anchorage. We tied up to the docks of Marsh Harbour Marina for fuel and water, and then sailed to our next anchorage, a beautiful beach on Elbow Cay, just outside the harbor entrance to Hope Town.

While Marsh Harbour is the hub of the Abacos, Hope Town is the jewel. The main businesses can be found around the waterfront of this well-protected harbor. Originally designed for pedestrians and their carts and wagons, narrow concrete paths are set between New England style cottages that are painted every color and every color combination: pinks, greens, turquoise, salmon, yellows, blues, gray, and white and decorated with gingerbread or filigree work. The small town is quiet, clean, charming, and quaint.

Hope Town and cruisers anchored just outside the town are watched over by the still-functioning red-and-white striped lighthouse. We climbed the winding steps of this 120-ft.
beacon to get an inside view of the hand-wound kerosene light and the magnificent prisms and also to take in the amazing 360-degree view. A keeper lives on site to nightly light the only manned lighthouse remaining in the Bahamas.


For Mother’s Day, Larry treated me to a special brunch at Harbours Edge. Sitting on the ocean-side waterfront veranda, listening to live music, watching the water splash across the reef, enjoying delicious food and unlimited bubbly --- lovely! Then, back on the boat, I took a little nap. Later that evening, Doug and Marlene came over with a beautifully grilled pork loin. I opened a bottle of bubbly, and we toasted the spirit of Mother’s Day and enjoyed a great dinner and planned our next anchorage.

SPANISH WELLS

A tidy,colorful little community and usually grouped with Eleuthera in tourist guides, Spanish Wells, St. George is much different from the other towns we have visited lately. Famous for its prosperous fishing fleet, Spanish Wells supplies much of the Bahamas’ commercial crop of lobster, conch and fish. Ronald, better known as ‘Ole Pot,’ was pleased to let us know that his fleet supplies lobster to all Red Lobsters. In addition to fishing fleets, water taxis as well as flat bed barges transport passengers, cars, and ‘whatever’ to Gun Point, a short trip to the east end of the main island of Eleuthera. The only businesses in Gun Point are Gene’s Ferry Dock and Liquor Store; people must use the busy water taxis to travel to work in Spanish Wells or to work on the mainland, not to mention those needed trips to the only liquor store. In addition to the water taxis and the flat bed barge, the Fast Ferry picks up passengers for trips to Nassau or Harbour Island. A cargo ship, tanker, or mail boat arrives in Spanish Wells almost daily.

The island is small and we walked the mile or so from the dingy dock to the main shops several times. Only one main street goes through the town, and the vehicular traffic is heavy, with golf carts, scooters, cars, and pick ups constantly traveling the narrow street that leaves little room for pedestrians. We soon discovered that walking the side streets results in a great way to see the town, and is a safer walk as well. Colorful cottages and splendid well-kept gardens and grounds cover the landscape. While many of the homes are historical, a number of large, modern homes sit on great lots overlooking the water, more evidence of an industrious and affluent island. The island is narrow and small houses and businesses back to the pink coral beach on the north side.

We shopped found at the large Food Fair grocery. Our stash of dark chocolate is alarmingly low, but we’ve had no luck replenishing it. We are rationing, but it will soon be gone.

We found wifi at Computer Concepts for $10 an hour. but it was a good, fast hookup. After two hours, I was mostly caught up checking our post mail (we have SBI mail forwarding), reading and responding to email, conducting banking, and posting a blog. I could always use more time for all of those activities.

CW’s, a tiny little grocery, has one washer and one dryer for pubic use, and we were glad to wash two loads. My mom asked me how we managed since it was usually weeks before we had washing facilities available. We have lots of wash cloths and undies, plus I wash our quick drying shirts and shorts in a bucket, using a plunger to agitate the clothes. I use seawater to wash and fresh water to rinse. It works. But it’s always nice to meet a washer and dryer.

A few diners are open for lunch, but we only saw a small snack shack open for dinner. No alcohol is served; in fact, no alcohol is available on the island. Founded in the 17th century by the Eleutheran Adventurers who left England looking for religious freedom, this independent, little town of 850 people does not depend upon nor does it cater to cruisers.

The town has its own Reverse Osmosis plant for water, which is what everyone drinks. We weren't out of water, but are always looking for an opportunity to fill our tanks. We worked out a plan to buy water from the local water plant, which is run by one couple. Both we and Solar Eclipse pulled up to Ron's dock and Shell station, where the water plant delivered 10 five-gallon water bottles for each of us to the dock. We had to pour them in, but that was easier than hauling our water cans to them, and then pouring the water in our tanks. In fact, if we wanted to wait one more day, they would bring a small water tank to the dock and we could just put it in our tanks with their hose; however, the weather was right and we were ready to go. We topped off our diesel tanks, and with our expert plan of leaving Spanish Wells at high tide, we sailed away. Having plenty of water under us made this trip much more pleasant than the trip into Spanish Wells. In less than two hours, we were anchored in the protected anchorage of Plantation Island, with plans to leave early the next morning for a 54-mile sail to Little Harbour, Abaco.

Road Trip to Harbour Island & Sailing to Spanish Wells

Continuing our road trip:

Back on the road after leaving the breathtaking views from the Glass Window/Bridge, we drove through the small villages of Upper and Lower Bogue, past the N. Eleuthera Airport to the Three islands Dock where we parked. A fabled Bahamian hideaway, Harbour Island was once only accessible by private boat. Today, visitors and locals come and go by air, ferry, and water taxi. Our ten minute water taxi ride ended at the government docks of Dunmore Town, the only community on the island. After renting a golf cart, we were soon driving around the scenic, busy little town. Doing a great job of driving on the left, Doug parked our cart so we could walk on the famous beach.

Made of tiny grains of coral and shell, the three-mile pink beach is one of the cleanest and most beautiful beaches we’ve seen. We left the beach to do more exploring in our golf cart. Locals, many of whom are descendents of the Eleutheran Adventurers, run an assortment of shops, galleries, and restaurants. This small, hillside village is full of color from the flowers and the cottages. Many of the charming cottages were built in the late 1700s and early 1800s, during the days of prosperous shipbuilding.

Dunmore Town is home to luxury resorts and house rentals. Two visiting mega yachts had entered from the Atlantic side, the only route into the harbor. We were surprised to see several beautiful and stately banyan trees. After a snack and a Kalik at Harbour Island Marina, we returned our golf cart, quickly caught a water taxi, and drove back to our homes in Rock Sound. For more pictures of Harbour Island’s pink beaches: www.harbourislandlanding.com

With a forecast for a south wind, we chose a day with 15-18 knots from the E/SE to sail twenty miles north to Governor’s Harbor, with an anchorage that offers protection from all but W/NW. We will be sailing to Spanish Wells and getting further north will give us a better starting location. But just as important is being in a safe harbor from the coming S/SW wind. With strong, spring winds, finding the anchorage that offers protection from the current wind direction is important for safety and comfort. Governor’s Harbor is another appealing village. The steep hill around the harbor has many colorful colonial houses and businesses. Bougainvillea grows abundantly and cascades over garden walls.

The next day, we again sailed north, this time anchoring in Hatchet Bay; it would offer us protection from the wind clocking to the north plus we again lessened the distance to Spanish Wells. Hatchet Bay’s narrow opening is carved through a high rocky cliff. A lake already existed, and adding the opening resulted in an all-around protection harbour. The government has added free moorings; two were available when we arrived. After gaining info from a boater in the harbour, Solar Eclipse secured one of the two moorings, leaving the mooring in deeper water for us. Doug lowered his dingy to motor the area around his mooring, determining that if the wind clocked (as was forecast) and if it was at low tide, Solar Eclipse would ground, plus as the boat swung around, it would likely hit a large rock. Solar Eclipse left their mooring and rafted with us, which was lovely. Rafting eliminates getting in the dingy to have cocktails with another boat; all that is required is stepping from one boat to the other.

We stayed at Hatchet Bay two nights, waiting for a weather window to go to Spanish Wells. Due to fronts moving from the U.S. to the Bahamas, we’ve had qually and windy weather for the last week. At least the few rains have washed a little salt off of our boat! The wind clocked around and with a forecast for an east wind, which is the wind we wanted, we left the protected harbor.
Sixteen miles northeast of Hatchet Bay, we crossed the swift, deep Current Cut. Our Explorer’s Charts state that this cut is one of the strongest and fastest cuts in the Bahamas and to plan carefully for the safest crossing. We planned to cross at low tide with the current ebbing off of the Bank and the wind behind us. We listen to Christ Parker’s weather on SSB and often call in for more specific information regarding our exact location and destination. As usual, his forecast was right on. Just before entering the cut, we started our engine for more power to go with our sails. The sails, plus the wind and running current behind us, propelled us quickly through the impressive cut.

We were not in a hurry to reach Spanish Wells, now only ten miles away. Low tide at Current Cut is thirty minutes prior to low tide at Spanish Wells, so while our plan to cross the cut was perfect, we were not anxious to go into shallow Spanish Wells at low tide. To gain time to allow the tide water to rise at least at little, we sailed the eight miles to Meek’s Patch with only one sail up. As we passed the waypoint to go the two shallow miles to the entrance into Spanish Cay, we started our engine so that we would have power if we grounded. Solar Eclipse was ahead of us, and no call from them on the VHF was good news. We draw six feed to their five and a half and we touched the sandy bottom a few times, but no grounding.

We entered Spanish Wells Harbour, which is actually just one long cut running between Spanish Wells on the north and two small islands on the south. We followed the channel to our reserved moorings. This mooring field somehow works, but the moorings are very close together, the sandbars are too close both in front and behind the boats, and the mooring ball is a challenge to pick up in the strong current.

With a forecast of windy and qually weather (again) for the next five days, we would be in Spanish Wells for a bit.