St Simons Island

After a long day we are moored at the Golden Isles Marina. At first we thought we could not get here from Pine Island but an additional incentive was a forecast of gale force winds Sunday and perhaps Monday. We will be here for at least two nights and maybe longer. I have no desire to anchor in the ICW in 30 knot winds again as we did last night. Age either makes us wiser or more timid (or both); your choice.

Progress of a sort

Here we are anchored at Pine Island in a near gale. We have gone from Vero Beach to Titusville to Daytona to here. A few days ago it looked like we could go outside and make some real progress, but the weather has turned windy and is forecasted to stay that way for another week. We plan on stopping in St Simons to see Artie who is recovering from a heart attack, and then continue slogging north. As previously noted several times the weather this winter (and now Spring) has been far from good. On we go.

A Place NOT to Go

When anchoring in the Causeway anchorage in Fort Pierce do NOT anchor in position 27 -27.355N / 080-18.282 W. The chart shows a large deep pool of water; what it does not show is the two sunken barges at this position. We found this morning that our anchor had become very attached to one of the barges. After vain attempts to raise the anchor, almost ruining the bowsprit in the process (we didn't) we called Tow Boat US. The tow captain said he knew what it was and would bring a diver out to try to save the anchor. They arrived promptly and found the anchor snagged on the corner of one of the barges; took 3 minutes to free it. Not a good start of the day, but a satisfactory ending. We are in Vero Beach for a couple of days and then heading home as rapidly as possible.

Here we are

We had a great crossing of the Gulf Stream today. As usual the weather people had it wrong, forecasting higher seas. Anchored in Ft Pierce tonight, on to Vero Beach tomorrow. Then a push to get home. More as the plan developes.

On the Way (we hope)

We are at West End in Grand Bahama planning on crossing the Gulf Stream to Fort Pierce tomorrow. The marina here (the most expensive we have ever stayed in) is stuffed full of boats all of which swear they are crossing tomorrow. Stay tuned.

A Visit to Hope Town

We took the ferry over to Hope Town yesterday. Its a beautiful little town located at the north end of Elbow Cay. The harbor is completely protected from all sides but it is small and very crowded. The town, like most of the Abaco Cays was settled circa 1780 by Loyalists from America who did not want to leave British rule. There are no cars in the town. Golf carts are the means of transportaion on what amounts to 10 foot wide sidewalks. Today a waterfront lot sells for almost a million dollars, and with a house can easily exceed 2 million. A two bedroom beach house rents for over 2100 dollars a week. A large number of Americans, Canadians and Europeans spend the winter there. I still cannot upload pictures so I cannot share a beautiful picture of the Harbor and lighthouse.

Nothing is Easy

We are in the Conch Inn Marina in Marsh Harbour awaiting delivery of a new inverter. The original failed after 16 years. Since the refrigerator / freezer operates on AC power we cannot anchor or move the boat unless we throw out all frozen and refrig food. We expect to be here until next Thurday at least, and that assumes that Xantack delivers the inverter as they promised. By then it will be time it start home. To add to frustration the weather continues to host high winds and a uncrossable Gulf Stream. To further complicate matters, Dixie's sister is very ill with a staph infection . More later as the situation, hopefully, resolves itself.