Gun Sur Mer to Fort Pierce - The Crossing

We got up at 5:30 to depart the Bahamas.

It was dark, and I had Chris on the foredeck with a flashlight to guide us out of the walled canal.  He told me there was plenty of water depth, but he didn't seem to notice how close we were to the canal walls.  And he wouldn't turn around to talk to me, making it impossible to tell what he was saying.

Once outside the canal, we set sail in a beam reach.  In an hour, I realized that the boat's speed would not get us to Florida in daylight.  So we started the motor.

Breakfast was underway, featuring Kimchi Ramen, which was cooked on site.

We decided to sail for Fort Pierce.  Port Carnival was good if we wanted to go on a night sail.

We tried the Starlink, but it wouldn't work until we were 12 miles from the shore.  Eventually, it worked - when we got to 12 miles offshore, about the same as Cellular.

We came into Fort Pierce Inlet in the dark.  Chris was my eyes.  

We anchored outside the Safe Harbour Marina at 19:30 and dinghyed in to meet with Mark and Jane.  We went out for supper at the marina.  Mark joined us for a beer, and Jane stayed aboard to sleep on Aida.

The next day, we used Mark's car to do groceries and helped Mark put on the Stack Pack and Main Sail on the Aries.  

Monday was rainy and we stayed aboard Bellum.  Bellum goes for a good wash.

West End to Ginn Sur Mer

After clearing customs, we departed on a 33-mile run to Ginn Sur Mer.  Ginn Sur Mer was a waterfront development that was never completed.  We were the first boat to arrive, but many other ships followed, including an electric power boat and numerous Power Cats.

We added some chafe protection for the solar panels against the backstay

Great Sail Cay to West End

Video

Had a great long sail to West End.  As we passed Church Cay, it was low tide, and we sailed past a VPS zone at 6 1/2 knots, scraping a hard bottom.

We tried anchoring south of West End, but someone on land waved us off, indicating that we could not anchor there.  I decided to check in at Old Bahamas Bay Marina.  We had supper at the restaurant at the Marina.

On Wednesday, we walked through West End, a bleak town with several conch shacks, bars and locals.

We stayed until Friday, when Norm departed at 5 AM.  Later, Chris pulled me up the mast to investigate the failed anchor light and straighten the mast head windex, which was bent in the Dismal Swamp on a tree.  We were not successful with the anchor light.

We check out of the Bahamas at Customs and the Marina on Friday.

Powell Island to Great Sail Cay

We had a great sail to Great Sail Cay.

Norm and Chris rewired the Telecom battery - replacing a burnt wire that was too thin for the Solar Panels.

Green Turtle to Manjack and then Powell Island

We did a zero-carbon departure and sailed to Manjack.  We dinghied around Manjack in search of wildlife - namely, turtles.  We saw some glimpses of a turtle.  Maybe two.. No evidence.

We pulled the anchor and sailed to Powell Island.  The bilge blower started acting up - making noises that varied with the battery voltage.

We beached the dinghy and attempted to replace the broken bolt on the Johnson, but were unsuccessful.

We walked around the Ocean and sound side of Powell.