Finally, we’re about 1/4 mile from a cell tower with nothing to do. Evergreen is currently in the Abacos. The weather has been difficult the past few days. Had a salty sail yesterday and pulled into this anchorage at Crab Cay. We were anchored near another Crab Cay yesterday. Wind picked up. Much lightning and rain last night. Getting ahead of myself here and behind on the blog so, back to the Exumas and The Pirate’s Lair. 

March 5th- Black Point to Bell Island Exumas, Bahamas 

Time to start heading back. We are more than half way through our cruising permit. We have another wind event coming tomorrow and need to hide out from westerlies. This time we went to Bell Island. Other anchorages seemed to be filling up but we were only the 2nd vessel at Bell. 

Bell Island is privately owned so we stayed on Evergreen for our time here. 

Rocky Dundas.

Saw this launch around sunset.

Didn’t work out apparently. No one was on board.

By the day of the westerly blow we had 25 boats in the anchorage. If someone had asked me before, I’d have estimated that there was room for 10 (maybe). The last boat that came in was practically anchored on top of us. I was aggravated at first but realized the guy was nervous and had a family. He stopped over to ask if it was OK. I told him he was on top of our anchor gear but should stay there if he felt he was securely hooked. We’d work it out if a problem arose (none did).

March 7th- Bell Island to Hog Cay/ Pirate’s Lair Exumas, Bahamas 

We missed a lot of the Exumas but I wanted to do something different before heading back to Eleuthera. Hog Cay is an odd anchorage that most cruisers seem to bypass. It’s part of the Exumas Land and Sea park. There is no anchoring allowed but it has two moorings. It is accessible from the ocean side of the Exumas. We radioed the park office at Warderick Wells and got a mooring for a couple of days.

What a perfect spot! 360 degree protection. At least three beaches to choose from. Easy snorkeling spots.

It’s called Pirate’s Lair because pirates used to stop in here to hide and most importantly, there is a natural fresh water well. We hiked on Warderick Wells and saw the well. Apparently there are plants that grow on the island that aren’t native to the Bahamas. This would be from the sailors that camped on the island. 

Rough trails in the Pirate’s Lair.

This was a great last stop in the Exumas. We hope to go back someday and explore other anchorages in the park. On our second day we met the park warden who stopped over to the boat. His wife ran the vhf radio announcements at 9:00am each day. This included park rules and mooring assignments. Unique about her delivery, was that she almost sang the park rules. 

Some scenes from Hog Cay.

Basking on our own private beach.

We found this fruit. We didn’t have any internet so couldn’t look up what it was. We probably should have tried one anyway. There was a lot.

Lynne at the top of the hill.

View from the top.

We had these large fish swimming off the back of the boat. No fishing in the park. I think they just hang around for scraps of food.

Evergreen moored in The Pirate’s Lair- Hog Cay, Exumas.

February 23rd- Rock Sound, Eleuthera to Shroud Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 

Today we crossed over to the Exuma Cays. This was a first for us as we haven’t gone this far south in prior years. This was mostly a down wind sail. The day had winds heavier than predicted. We made good time getting over to the islands but I was starting to worry about the large following seas and how that was going to effect the cuts between the islands. After consulting the charts I decided to pass through Highborn Cut. I spent some time, the night before, figuring out tides and current for the area. It was time well spent. We caught the incoming tide and made it between the islands. The navigation was tricky.

We anchored off Shroud Cay for the night. Shroud is supposed to be a beautiful island but we didn’t make it to shore. Maybe next time. 

February 24th- Shroud Cay to Rat Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 

We were unable to stay at Shroud due to an approaching weather system. This is a problem in the Exumas and the main reason I didn’t come here last year. There are not many anchorages with wind protection from the west. To compound the problem, the whole chain is densely packed with boats. There are more boats in the Exumas than we’ve seen on the entire Bahamas trip. Everyone races to the anchorages with westerly protection when a front rolls through. The Exumas are beautiful but I find all of the boat traffic a little disturbing. In addition to that,  there are the super yachts, and the helicopters, and the yacht toys. It’s odd to be on some remote island and have all this stuff going on.

We worked our way down to Rat Cay. This was also a tricky (shallow) entrance. The chart says to only attempt entrance with good visibility. Well, we had a squall right about the time I got there. I had boats following me in so I decided to go for it. There were already boats in the Pipe Creek area and a few large catamarans anchored near Rat. Eventually we put Evergreen in a spot that I was happy with. We stayed through the storm. The protection was good. Evergreen swung around a lot due to the current but the anchor held and we didn’t hit any rocks.

The following day was calm and many of the boats left. We stayed. It’s a beautiful spot with lots of wildlife and nice beaches. Many of the cays are privately owned but there are a few that can be landed on. 

Sometimes these little islands (The Mice) seemed very close.

Happy to be in the Exumas with some nice weather.

February 27th- Rat Cay to Little Bay, Great Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 

The settlement on Great Guana is Black Point. We anchored in a nearby bay to check the beach (excellent) and walk some of the island. We did some extra dinghy exploring around here but didn’t find any living coral. The landscape on the ocean side was dramatic. 

Evergreen anchored in Little Bay.

March 1st- Little Bay to Black Point, Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 

We moved Evergreen over to the other Bay and Black Point settlement. We saw S/V Clara anchored in the Bay. We exchanged sea tales for while and they were off to their next anchorage. We needed a few things so decided to stay at Black Point for a few days. They have a very nice laundry and free water. Lynne also asked around and found a woman that bakes bread in her kitchen. She bought a loaf of bread right out of a bread pan on the bakers kitchen counter. That’s fresh. Everything is closed on Sunday so we wandered around to check out the cliffs and see the blow hole.

Evergreen is out there. Somewhere.

Black Point Settlement.

March 4th- Black Point, Guana Cay, Exumas, Bahamas 

We are going to have some Westerly component winds again on Thursday so the plan was to move out today (Tuesday). The wind started howling through the rigging around 2am. I’m pretty sure we were getting wind in excess of 30knots due to the little breaking waves in the harbor. No moving today for us! The harbor was rough so we stayed onboard all day. I’m glad we got all of our shore projects done yesterday, and we have fresh bread.

February 4th- Spanish Wells to Alabaster Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas 

We were able to sail down to Current Cut. At the cut we caught the swift current into the Bight Of Eleuthera . The rest of the afternoon was spent motoring into a light easterly breeze. We anchored in Alabaster Bay. This stretched into a few days so we could absorb the beach and sea for a while. 

February 6th Alabaster Bay to Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera Bahamas 

Perfect sailing weather. The Easterly Trades have been dominating the wind direction.

Governors Harbour was once the seat of government for the Bahamas. It’s an old settlement. We toured the architecture. The anchorage is often characterized as having bad holding but it worked out well for us.

February 8th- Governor’s Harbour to Pau Pau Bay, Eleuthera, Bahamas 

We sailed the short way down to Pau Pau Bay which is nestled in the Pineapple Keys. The Pineapples are a group of small islands off of Eleuthera and near the settlement of Palmetto. 

This was a great stop! The beach was nice and I was able to snorkel around one of the small islands. There was an active reef and some pretty big fish down there. 

We also found an excellent produce market, Eleuthera Island Farm. We hope to be back there for Bread Day!

February 11th- Pau Pau Bay to 10 Bay, Eleuthera Bahamas 

Here we moved down to another beautiful beach. It gave us a little extra protection from the wind which was veering more southerly. The snorkeling was less interesting but I kept up with the swimming and got some exercise. 

February 14th to 22nd- Rock Sound, Eleuthera Bahamas 

Back in Rock Sound. We like this town a lot. It’s a good provisioning spot for us. When we arrived we had about 20 boats in harbor. There were over 50 anchored before we left. It’s a big harbor so there were no problems. Everyone was well spaced. 

There are two large grocery stores. A liquor store and deisel fuel. Good restaurants. Various small shops. And Warren. 

While wandering around town we noticed many areas had been cleaned up and there seemed to be less dogs. We did see small puppies around which is heart wrenching as these dogs don’t have a good life on the streets. After talking to a few locals we found that Warren had spearheaded the cleanup before the boat migration. We met Warren last year while in Rock Sound. He is a powerhouse of Bahamian pride, an anti-litter activist, an artist, a former nurse, and a general positive force on this planet.

When we ran into Warren this year he was particularly happy to see Lynne because he thought she had died! Turns out he had heard of another American boat which, tragically, the wife onboard had passed away and the husband went back to the US. Sad story. He thought it was our boat. Not us. Anyway it was good to see him again. Last year he had all big paintings and charcoal drawings. This year he was producing smaller paintings for “you boaters”. We resolved to purchase one. He wouldn’t allow it! He was depressed about Lynne and was now happy having found she was alive and well. He gave us the painting as a gift. The generosity of the Bahamians is astounding. Rock Sound is not a wealthy town.

Warren’s (aka Grandma) studio.

He wanted me to make sure I got his phone number in for advertising.

Warren and the crew of Evergreen.

Our new Rock Sound painting.

I wrote most of this post in Rock Sound but didn’t get it uploaded. On the 23rd we jumped off for the Exumas but I don’t want to get ahead of myself as that’s the next part of the story.

Evergreen anchored in Rock Sound.

January 27th- Green Turtle Cay to Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco, Bahamas 

We were tied for a week to Outward Bound’s mooring in White Sound. Our time was spent wandering the roads and beaches. We had a few breezy days. We filled up with water and deisel at the Green Turtle Club before departure. 

We motored through Whale Passage without incident. The rest of the afternoon,  we had a nice,  quiet, sail to Marsh Harbour. The wind was light but we didn’t have far to travel. 

We spent an extra day in Marsh Harbour and stocked up with groceries at Maxwells. In the evening we met up with the Captain of S/V Outward Bound for dinner at the Jib Room. The food and conversation was great. The next morning we all met up for a 3 mile walk along a scenic road that I didn’t know about. 

Captains of Outward Bound and Evergreen, living the good life.

January 29th- Marsh Harbour to Tilloo Cay Abaco Islands, Bahamas 

Today we made the short trip over to Tilloo. We love the pond. There are many turtles and a great assortment of other sea life. There are only a few houses on the island and I suspect the pond acts as a nursery for sea creatures. Coincidentally, this was our first time swimming this year. The night was calm and absolutely perfect!

Clear water at Tilloo Cay.

January 30th- Tilloo Cay to Little Harbour, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas 

We moved further south along the Abaco chain to prepare for our departure to Eleuthera. Evergreen ended her day on a mooring in Little Harbour. Little Harbour is one of those places that feels like it’s on the edge of the world. It’s not, but it feels that way. The budget was a little tight for Pete’s Pub so maybe we’ll drop in there on our return trip. We stayed an extra day to wait out some wind.

Evergreen moored in Little Harbour.

February 1st- Little Harbour to Lynyard Cay Abaco Islands, Bahamas 

The entrance to Little Harbour is very shallow. Even though we have a shallow draft vessel it would be unwise for us to go through this entrance near low tide. I’ve pushed through there before. We decided to exit LH at high tide and head over to Lynyard Cay for our early morning departure to Eleuthera. 

Being at Lynyard was like a day at the beach. We anchored off our own private beach and did some swimming, walking, and exploring. The weather has been really good. Much better than last year. So far. Tomorrow we’ll get through Little Harbour Cut and head out into the Atlantic. Destination Eleuthera. 

When I read the News I feel like there is a segment of the population that doesn’t believe in science. I have news for you. THERE IS TOO MUCH PLASTIC IN THE ENVIRONMENT. Every place I go, I see plastic. I try not to photograph it but you can see some in this photo. Sometimes there are piles. We see it when there is no land in sight. It bothers me. Rant over.

February 2nd Lynyard Cay Abacos to Royal Island, Eleuthera, Bahamas. 

We were awake at first light and under way around Sunrise. We had a 55nm day ahead of us and a crossing of the deep blue sea. I felt Eleuthera might go easier if we could avoid burning too much diesel. The weather prognosticators determined that we would have a beam reach for sailing (wind directly across the side of the boat). For much of the voyage the wind was more south east than east (predicted) so we were sailing up wind. Well we still had a good day! We lowered our center board (a rare event), cranked in our big genoa, tied a reef in the main, and blasted upwind most of the day. Evergreen was very heeled over (sideways) so it was a little difficult to move around. Still, we made good time. Later in the day the wind switched to the predicted east. Evergreen soared along at over seven knots. I started to depower the sails a little as I worried that some 40 year old piece of rigging hardware, would break.

We stopped for the night at Royal Island. It’s a good harbor with a tight entrance but 360 degree wind protection. The island is privately owned so there is no land access. The shore is mostly steep coral/ rock so there is no good place to land anyway. 

Sailing to Eleuthera.

February 3rd- Royal Island to Spanish Wells Eleuthera, Bahamas 

After a VERY leisurely morning we pulled up the hook and headed over to Spanish Wells. Sometimes this area is packed with vessels but there are not many around here right now. We pulled into the harbor and picked up one of the moorings that Pinder’s handles. The dinghy was launched and we filled a can with diesel and purchased a some groceries at the market. Spanish Wells has a very quaint feel to it.

Further clarification.

Evergreen moored in Spanish Wells, Eleuthera.

January 21st- Green Turtle Cay/ White Sound, Abaco Islands,  Bahamas 

We stayed an extra day anchored off Great Abaco Island to rest up. On the 19th we hauled up the hook and set sail for Green Turtle Cay. It was only 14nm to our destination so no need to leave early. For the first time in a while we had a real sail. The wind was gusting to around 25kts. We were able to make 6 to 7 knots under genoa alone. Even though it was breezy the sea state was pretty good. We made it in to White Sound, without mishap, and picked up S/V Outward Bound’s mooring for a few days. Since I have an aversion to government paperwork, Lynne becomes the Captain for the checkin process. Ivy the GTC customs agent remembered Lynne from last year and 20 minutes later we were flying the Bahamian courtesy flag and officially on vacation in the Bahamas. 

We’ve been relaxing and walking various beaches. Temperatures have been ranging from the upper 70s during the day, to upper 60s at night. It feels great to be back on GTC!

Coco Bay

We saw Turtles, Snapper, Barracuda, Needle Fish, Shark, and Stingrays. Much better than going to an aquarium. 

Evergreen moored at GTC.

January 18th- Great Abaco Island, Bahamas 

We hauled in the anchor at Lake Worth and exited the inlet around 5:00pm. We pointed Evergreen roughly south east to make some distance before the Gulf Stream would start to push us north. This put us directly into the SE wind so we motored. The Gulf Stream was choppy with around 4 to 5 foot seas. Eventually things flattened out a bit and we were able to roll the genoa out when we changed course. This stabilized Evergreen enough that the Admiral was able to cook up some chicken/ vegetable ramen soup. The moon rose and was a bright 3/4 so visibility was pretty good. We crossed onto the Bahama bank (near Memory Rock) around 2:30am. It was a good crossing and we were very pleased to be back in the Bahamas. During the calmer part of the voyage we traded off watches in the cockpit and the off watch person got some sleep. We did this every hour or two. This was a first for us and we felt much better. It took 17 hours to transit from Lake Worth to Great Sale Cay (21 hours if you count the ICW passage from Hobe Sound). 

Sunrise in the Bahamas.

Raising the quarantine flag.

As we were approaching Great Sale Cay I downloaded a weather forecast from our Garmin satellite device. Great Sale has a couple of different anchoring spots that provide good protection from various wind directions. Unfortunately, South West is not one of them. The wind was predicted to turn south west Saturday morning. These things happen. We had a brief meeting. We both felt pretty good and weren’t exhausted so we pointed Evergreen toward a safer anchorage.

Eventually, we dropped the hook in the lee of Great Abaco Island, not far from Cooperstown, around 5pm. In two days we traveled 161 nautical miles over 28 hours. Not bad for a couple of day-sailors in a 46 year old boat.

Today is cloudy, breezy, but a warm 75 degrees. Bahamas!!!

January 16th- Lake Worth/ West Palm Beach FL

We finally untied the lines from Vero Beach. It would have been easy to stay another week. The January weather has not been conducive to boat travel. 

Evergreen making an early departure from Vero. Photographed from SV Voilà.

It turned into a cool, grey, windy, day on the trip down to Hobe Sound. The wind was behind us so that was helpful. We had a quiet night in Hobe Sound but it was largely open to the North wind.

Today we pushed on down to Lake Worth. There are several bridges to contend with along the way. For some reason I thought the Jupiter Federal Bridge was replaced with a high rise bridge. Nope. In the space of 9 nautical miles there are six bridges.

Currently we are anchored near the Lake Worth inlet. We plan on hauling in the anchor around sunset and doing an overnight passage to the Bahamas. That was the best weather situation I could figure out.  We should be at Great Sale Cay sometime tomorrow. Onward to the Bahamas!!

January 14th – Vero Beach FL 

According to my calendar we arrived to the Velcro on November 26th of last year! We’ve been here for a month and a half. Time flies. 

On the Florida intracoastal.

Dolphins playing.

While here we went on a road trip across the state. We celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas at the marina. For both holidays we had a boaters pot luck dinner. Both events were well attended and we had enough food to feed an army.

While we were away another boater snapped this rainbow shot with Evergreen in the middle. We are rafted to another vessel. Where is that pot of gold?

We’ve been rafted with several vessels while here. All have been good people out seeking a cruising adventure. 

We’ve been trying to watch the budget so have been avoiding going out to eat much. We did hit El Sids for tacos a few times. I’ll have to get my Ruben from Casey’s when we come back this way in a few months. 

Which brings me to…. We’re ready to go. For the past few days we’ve been getting Evergreen ready for the Bahamas. Tomorrow we’ll head south. If all looks good, we’ll cross the Gulf Stream around Thursday/ Friday. We’ll make a stop at Great Sale Cay to rest up. Eventually we’ll get down to Green Turtle Cay to check in with the customs office. Then, who knows? We’re on vacation.

That’s the “plan”. The crossing the Gulf Stream part is a little uncertain according to the weather profits. We’ll need to keep an eye on wind and waves before crossing. 

Evergreen moored at Vero Beach.

November 14th- Beaufort SC

We debarked from Carolina Beach on the 6th and moored in Beaufort on the 10th. As usual, going through the Myrtle Beach portion of the ICW, was very bland. It’s probably the least scenic part of the trip. On the other hand, the Waccamaw River is always special. We had one day of light rain. Most of the rest of the voyage from the Chesapeake Bay has been mild.

Waccamaw River

Sunrise on the Waccamaw River. Other than reducing the file size for the blog, there was no photo editing done to this picture. Amazing view!

While in transit to Beaufort we made four stops. All were remote anchorages. We were often up and underway before dawn. We crossed through a few shallow spots but are used to the routine. One of my navigation tablets broke down but we have others. I had a new one shipped to Beaufort.

Since being in Beaufort we’ve met up with other cruising friends. The starting coil broke on our outboard motor. Fortunately the crew on S/V Barry Duckworth have the same motor and carry spare parts. With the new part our Honda is back in operation. The Beaufort River has an 8 to 9 foot tide. Rowing in the current is horrendous!

We got our olive oil, sourdough bread, and Tomato Pie. We are ready to move on but are watching a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico. We are delaying our voyage a bit as we don’t want to be in Florida until we see how this storm is going to develop.

November 3rd  through 5th- Carolina Beach NC

We had a good run from Mile Hammock to Carolina Beach. It’s a battle to time the Figure Eight Island bridge and the Wrightsville Beach bridge. I particularly dislike the WB bridge due to traffic and current.

We spent a few days in Carolina Beach. We stocked up with all the usual. We enjoyed a few bacon and egg sandwiches from the North End Cafe. The admiral and I walked the beach and watched the waves but it’s not quite the same without our pal.

Tomorrow we’ll shove off for points south. I think we can make it down to Beaufort in five days (with a little luck). We might have some rain along the way but, in general, the weather looks good.